Speaking in an interview to Guardian online, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis glibly said “If I’m convicted of high treason, it would be interesting”. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
‘He explains in a series of declarative sentences, constructed with faultless logic, that in 2010 Greece went “spectacularly” bankrupt and Europe has consistently refused to confront this reality because the monetary union was never designed to deal with such an eventuality. All sorts of places can effectively go bankrupt – the north of England, for example, he says – but as long as there are the surplus-recycling mechanisms of a unitary state, then the situation can be remedied. ButEurope has no such provision for default.’
‘The “we” refers to Alexis Tsipras, whom Varoufakis makes clear was in unwavering agreement with his strategy. He refers to Tsipras as his “good friend”, but you sense that it’s a friendship that may have been tested beyond recovery. Certainly (Varoufakis spouse Danae) Stratou gives the coded impression that her husband was let down or betrayed by his erstwhile colleagues.’
‘“I don’t believe that the time of depression is a revolutionary time,” he says. “The only people who benefit are the Nazis, the racists, the bigots, the misanthropes. Let’s be honest about this. Our left, our radical party, did reasonably well, not because we were left but because we managed to capture the imagination about the importance of ending the extending and pretending, not because those who voted for us wanted socialism.”’
You can find the whole interview here http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/23/yanis-varoufakis-convicted-high-treason-interview-greece-finance-minister-syriza
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