by You left office about a year ago – any regrets? None whatsoever. Once it was no longer possible to do good for Greece as minister, there was no reason to stay in office. Your proudest moment as #Greece’s Minister of Finance? When a poorly dressed boy pointed me out to another boy & said: “This is the guy that gave our mum a card to buy groceries!” Since you left, #Greek #euro crisis no longer dominating Europe’s headlines ? My departure ended a rebellion against debt bondage slavery. Slavery does not create headlines. A slaves’ revolt does. Describe your relationship with Wolfgang Schäuble. An interesting relationship between finance ministers of a strong & a weak country who were equally powerless to do what was right. Any takeaway from the #finger #boehmermann affair? That satire is despised by despots and only appreciated deeply by humanists (even if it comes at a political cost to them). You recently came out as an admirer of Margaret Thatcher – elaborate. I admired something prescient once said by a political opponent. If we cannot do this, politics is inhuman. You were once dubbed “Most interesting man in the world” by @businessinsider – are you? If this is true, the world has become very boring. You are critical of the EU but pro-European – how does that work? In the same way that to be a good patriot you must often be searchingly critical of your government.
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Yanis Varoufakis considers the following as important: DiEM, Politics and Economics
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You left office about a year ago – any regrets?
None whatsoever. Once it was no longer possible to do good for Greece as minister, there was no reason to stay in office.
Your proudest moment as #Greece’s Minister of Finance?
When a poorly dressed boy pointed me out to another boy & said: “This is the guy that gave our mum a card to buy groceries!”
Since you left, #Greek #euro crisis no longer dominating Europe’s headlines ?
My departure ended a rebellion against debt bondage slavery. Slavery does not create headlines. A slaves’ revolt does.
Describe your relationship with Wolfgang Schäuble.
An interesting relationship between finance ministers of a strong & a weak country who were equally powerless to do what was right.
Any takeaway from the #finger #boehmermann affair?
That satire is despised by despots and only appreciated deeply by humanists (even if it comes at a political cost to them).
You recently came out as an admirer of Margaret Thatcher – elaborate.
I admired something prescient once said by a political opponent. If we cannot do this, politics is inhuman.
You were once dubbed “Most interesting man in the world” by @businessinsider – are you?
If this is true, the world has become very boring.
You are critical of the EU but pro-European – how does that work?
In the same way that to be a good patriot you must often be searchingly critical of your government.
Do you think there would have been a Brexit if there had been no austerity?
No!
In 2015 you started democracy movement @DiEM_25 in Berlin. Do its aims fit into the current framework of the EU?
DiEM25 believes that the EU is disintegrating. We must stabilize Europe’s economy first, before radically democratizing the EU.
Any realistic hope to fulfill @DiEM_25 ‘s demands?
Did the initiators of the anti-slavery movement think their demand was utopian? You bet they did! So what? They succeeded.
Describe a day in the life of Varoufakis.
Writing, reading, debating late in the day, and, at some point, chatting, watching, and listening with my partner-in-everything.
You’re a fan of motorcycles. Favorite model and/or place to ride?
Yamaha XJR1300, coastal roads in northern and southern Attica, the Peloponnese plus wonderful B roads on Scotland’s West Coast.
What cause are you most passionate about today?
Democratizing Europe (against the troika’s will) in order to prevent a return of the 1930s in some vicious postmodern form.