How To ACTUALLY Resist Fascism | Aaron Bastani Meets Yanis Varoufakis

Quick Overview

Yanis Varoufakis argues that resisting fascism requires understanding its roots in capitalist contradictions, as demonstrated by the self-destructive historical trajectory of ultra-nationalist regimes in Germany and Greece, which invariably lead to national ruin despite initial economic boosts from military Keynesianism.

Key Points: Varoufakis identifies the narrative used by fascists—Europe as a 'beautiful garden surrounded by a jungle' requiring pruning—as the same narrative used by Nazis in the 1920s and 30s, which historically ends in wasteland. The book "Raise Your Soul, a personal history of resistance" focuses on five women who taught Varoufakis how to fight fascist authoritarianism and male chauvinism, spanning 101 years from 1923 to 2024. The Greek experience in Egypt reveals a lost modernity where Varoufakis's grandmother, Anna, joined the Egyptian Feminist Union in 1923, while the Greek community largely fused with the British ruling class until Arab nationalism reclaimed the country. The Asia Minor catastrophe resulted from ultra-nationalist overreach by a Greek government, leading to the Turkish army throwing the Greeks into the sea and a subsequent population exchange via the Treaty of Lausanne, creating millions of 'boat people'. Varoufakis asserts that the core missing element in understanding fascist political gains, like Hitler's rise or Trump's appeal, is capitalism: when capital goods are owned by a few, squeezed profits lead to demand slumps, discontent, and the subsequent rise of a scapegoating strongman. He critiques the idea that de-industrialization in the US was caused by migration; instead, he attributes it to Wall Street recycling global profits after 1971, forcing America into perpetual deficits, a model that birthed figures like Donald Trump. The speaker criticizes the 'clever artists' on the right who acknowledge climate change but insist the market is the solution, contrasting this with the truly damaging fascist tendency to use military Keynesianism derived from purifying the nation.