The Shift from Liberal Left to Techno-Feudalism

Janis Varoufakis discusses the paradox of being a man of the left who talks about freedom. He explains that the original idea of the left was about emancipation and liberty, but that the current left has lost sight of these values. He argues that we are now experiencing a new form of authoritarianism aided by technology, which he calls techno-feudalism. This involves a shift from a world driven by profit to one controlled by cloud capital, which extracts rents from traditional capitalists. Varoufakis believes that techno-feudalism is worse than capitalism because it bypasses the market and consolidates power in the hands of a few global tech corporations. He rejects the idea of reverting to traditional free markets or social democracy as solutions, as he believes the power of cloud capital cannot be restrained by borders or reshoring industries. He suggests moving towards a form of ultra-democracy powered by technology, where decisions are made collectively and power is distributed horizontally.