A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy
-
0:08 - 0:13When Gandhi was asked once
to comment on European civilization, -
0:13 - 0:17his quip was,
"It would be a very good idea." -
0:18 - 0:21When asked today about
our views on the European Union, -
0:21 - 0:24I think we can be excused
to reply in a similar fashion. -
0:24 - 0:28What a splendid idea it would be
if we could only pull it off. -
0:28 - 0:30United only in name,
-
0:30 - 0:33the European Union is, I'm afraid,
-
0:33 - 0:36in a process of disintegration
as we speak. -
0:36 - 0:42With the commitment and determination
of a termite colony, -
0:42 - 0:44which is eating into the foundations,
-
0:44 - 0:46very soon there will be nothing left
but an empty shell, -
0:46 - 0:52to remind us of the lofty ideal,
that used to be the European Union. -
0:53 - 0:56In Agatha Christie novels
-
0:56 - 1:02when the reader comes across
in the prologue a group of characters, -
1:03 - 1:07upper class characters usually
that are congregating some chateau, -
1:07 - 1:10the reader knows what to expect,
a series of murders. -
1:10 - 1:14Similarly, today when we hear that our
European politicians are gathering today -
1:14 - 1:19or together we know what to expect,
a comedy of errors -
1:19 - 1:24which will be wrapped up
in triumphant rhetoric, -
1:25 - 1:28but which very soon will prove
to be nothing more -
1:28 - 1:31than dangerous harmful waffle.
-
1:33 - 1:35To err is human.
-
1:35 - 1:37But to mess up spectacularly
-
1:37 - 1:39we need an elite
made up of prime ministers, -
1:39 - 1:44presidents, ministers,
apparatchiks, opinion makers -
1:44 - 1:48who are determined not to face up
-
1:48 - 1:51to a systemic crisis systematically.
-
1:51 - 1:55Alas, at least now we have enough evidence
-
1:55 - 2:00that renders all such denial inexcusable.
-
2:00 - 2:03Humanity has not surprised itself
very often -
2:03 - 2:05but it has done so twice in the past.
-
2:05 - 2:11Οnce in 1929 and yet again
more recently in 2008. -
2:11 - 2:161929 ought to have taught us
a very simple binary twin lesson. -
2:17 - 2:24First that the first victim of such
a crisis is the common currency. -
2:25 - 2:29It was the gold standard in 1929,
it is the Euro today. -
2:29 - 2:32The second victim
is of course truth and civility. -
2:32 - 2:36One such terrible crisis hits the world.
-
2:36 - 2:43A Hobbesian war of all against all
is unleashed on an unsuspecting humanity -
2:43 - 2:47and the first victim is our capacity
to recognize the systemic crisis -
2:47 - 2:49we are in, as a systemic crisis.
-
2:49 - 2:55And therefore it renders us incapable
of accepting our responsibility -
2:55 - 2:59for at least a portion of that crisis.
-
3:00 - 3:06Thrillers begin with
some cunning detective who is unmasking -
3:07 - 3:11one shady character after the other.
-
3:11 - 3:14But good thrillers,
I submit to you, -
3:14 - 3:17do not end with
the unveiling of the perpetrator. -
3:17 - 3:20Τhey go one step further.
-
3:20 - 3:23Τhey reach the momentus moment
-
3:23 - 3:28when the cunning detective
inadvertently unmasks himself. -
3:30 - 3:35Bewildered he is staring
at his own image in the mirror. -
3:35 - 3:39This crisis is having
a similar effect on all of us. -
3:39 - 3:42Our masks are falling.
-
3:42 - 3:45Unscrupulous bankers, inane politicians,
-
3:45 - 3:51conniving entrepreneurs,
cynical academics, -
3:51 - 3:55uncritical citizens,
who are all being unmasked -
3:55 - 4:01but as their masks keep falling
the dejection is becoming generalized. -
4:01 - 4:04Meanwhile the human costs
are mounting up -
4:04 - 4:06and the only way of making sense of them
-
4:06 - 4:11and measuring them sensibly
is by means of counting lost generations. -
4:11 - 4:18It is time to transform Europe
and to be transformed in the process. -
4:19 - 4:23Now, the medical profession
only very recently -
4:23 - 4:27managed to save
more people than it killed. -
4:28 - 4:34Up until the 1920s or so
the disease was preferable to the cure. -
4:34 - 4:37Similarly with the Εuro crisis now
-
4:37 - 4:39our European leaders are enacting,
-
4:39 - 4:43what I call a poisonous medicine.
-
4:43 - 4:46Toxic bailouts, inane austerity.
-
4:46 - 4:50We created, in order to salvage
a Εuro system, a currency union -
4:50 - 4:54which was never meant,
never designed to sustain -
4:54 - 4:56the catastrophe of 2008,
-
4:56 - 4:59the shockwaves of that great earthquake.
-
4:59 - 5:01What we have done is we created a scaffold
-
5:01 - 5:05which is, instead of helping
the edifice from collapsing -
5:05 - 5:07it is putting more pressure on it.
-
5:07 - 5:10We've created
this European Financial Stability -
5:10 - 5:12or Instability Facility
-
5:12 - 5:13and we modeled it.
-
5:13 - 5:18We created it in the image
of Lehman Brothers' infamous derivatives. -
5:18 - 5:20It was as if we took two stones
-
5:20 - 5:22and we tied them together
by means of a string, -
5:22 - 5:25hoping they will float more readily.
-
5:25 - 5:28The result of course
is the uncontrolled disintegration -
5:28 - 5:30that we are experiencing.
-
5:30 - 5:34Now, by now most people
are realizing this. -
5:34 - 5:39So what we have here is
a new Jerusalem that is being canvased. -
5:39 - 5:43It comes in the form
of the so called "Federal Option." -
5:43 - 5:47Well-meaning Europeans
and some friends from federal field -
5:47 - 5:53recite this litany of federal concepts,
ideas, suggestions. -
5:54 - 5:55I'll just give you some.
-
5:55 - 6:00We hear of the importance of forging
a Fiscal or a Transfer Union in Europe, -
6:00 - 6:02of having a Federal Treasury,
-
6:02 - 6:08of giving a new Leviathan,
a new Economic Czar -
6:08 - 6:13the power to rule over all of us
with an armed fist and keep us in awe. -
6:14 - 6:18What we hear about is Centralized
Disposal of National Assets, -
6:18 - 6:21particularly of the Greek kind.
-
6:21 - 6:22The laws of National Sovereignty
-
6:22 - 6:25as a price we have
to pay for this Fiscal Union -
6:25 - 6:27and of course the dreaded treaty changes
-
6:27 - 6:33that have to go through
27 parliaments and/or electorates. -
6:33 - 6:37I submit to you that this is both
unworkable and undesirable. -
6:37 - 6:39Why is it unworkable?
-
6:39 - 6:42Because
- and this is a message to federalists - -
6:42 - 6:45the worst enemy of federalism
at the moment is itself. -
6:45 - 6:48And the reason why
I'm saying this is because -
6:48 - 6:52if we move in the federals' direction
-
6:52 - 6:56the crisis is certain to outpace us.
-
6:56 - 6:58It would run faster than we do.
-
6:58 - 7:02And when the treaty changes take longer
than the collapse of the Euro, -
7:02 - 7:06all we will be left with
is the smouldering mess -
7:06 - 7:09in which there will be
nothing left to federate. -
7:09 - 7:15But there is a second reason
why this Federal Option needs to be shunt -
7:16 - 7:21and it is that if the United States
of Europe is a good idea, -
7:21 - 7:27it is not an idea that should be
wasted and subsumed -
7:27 - 7:32in the context of trying
to solve the current crisis. -
7:32 - 7:36Let me put it very simply.
The Federal Option will only be possible -
7:36 - 7:39once the crisis is over,
not as an antidote to the crisis. -
7:39 - 7:43We will only be capable
and worthy of federation, -
7:43 - 7:45when as European we can imagine the future
-
7:45 - 7:48in which Greeks and Germans
-
7:48 - 7:52will be voting in Greek and German
politicians to represent us. -
7:52 - 7:57We will only be able to affect
a decent Federal Europe -
7:57 - 8:02when we can imagine a situation
where our national armies -
8:02 - 8:06are dissolved and are merged
into a common European Defense force. -
8:06 - 8:10We are only going to be able
to put together a decent Federation -
8:10 - 8:16if we can imagine a situation
where our views are assessed -
8:16 - 8:19within Europe on the basis
of their merits and the merits alone, -
8:19 - 8:23what the ancient Athenians
used to refer as "Isigoria." -
8:23 - 8:26As opposed to judging what somebody says
-
8:26 - 8:28on the basis of the who they are,
what accent they speak in -
8:28 - 8:30which country they come from,
-
8:30 - 8:34and finally at a symbolic,
but a very important level, -
8:34 - 8:39let me say this, we are only going
to be capable of a proper federation -
8:39 - 8:44when we can decide as Europeans
what to print on our euro notes. -
8:44 - 8:50Instead of these abstract bridges
and gates that symbolize one thing, -
8:51 - 8:55our incapacity to agree on common symbols.
-
8:55 - 8:59So if I'm right that the new Jerusalem
is not really a new Jerusalem, -
8:59 - 9:05and that it is putting forward
an unworkable and undesirable idea, -
9:05 - 9:09which will also lead
to uncontrolled disintegration, -
9:09 - 9:11then what is the alternative?
-
9:11 - 9:15Well, let me suggest to you
that before we agree in an alternative, -
9:15 - 9:17perhaps we should agree
on some shared principles -
9:17 - 9:20that should govern our future.
-
9:20 - 9:25Τhese future principles
may seem contradictory -
9:26 - 9:28but they can be rendered harmoniously
-
9:28 - 9:30and if they can't then we have no future.
-
9:30 - 9:32Let me give you examples.
-
9:32 - 9:36One principle is that I think we should
end the perfectly partitioned Europe -
9:36 - 9:40that we created in Maastricht
in order to create the Euro, -
9:40 - 9:44while at the same time however,
strengthening National Sovereignty -
9:44 - 9:48and empowering National Responsibility
within that model. -
9:48 - 9:50Another set.
-
9:50 - 9:52End the pseudo solidarity
-
9:52 - 9:54which is being imposed upon
the Dutch and the Germans -
9:54 - 9:59in order to give bailouts, pretend
bailouts to the Greeks and to the Irish. -
9:59 - 10:03Stop inane austerity which is only
making the debt crisis worse. -
10:03 - 10:09Ignore all the calls for debt buybacks
which will not work, -
10:09 - 10:14but at the same time integrate investment
and management of our problems -
10:14 - 10:18like existing debt and banking losses.
-
10:18 - 10:21This is what I refer to
as decentralized europeanization -
10:21 - 10:23so allow me an acronym.
-
10:23 - 10:25Decent Europe.
-
10:25 - 10:26Europeanize what?
-
10:26 - 10:28Free realms.
-
10:28 - 10:32We need a management
of existing debt at a European level. -
10:32 - 10:34We need management of the banking sector
-
10:34 - 10:36which is collapsing all over us,
-
10:36 - 10:42and we need a europeanized
investment policy in aggregate. -
10:42 - 10:45How do we do this
without treaty changes and federation? -
10:45 - 10:48We already have existing
institutions in Europe -
10:48 - 10:51and each one of them
can be assigned one of these tasks. -
10:51 - 10:53I'm not going to go into this.
-
10:53 - 10:54This is not the place or the time.
-
10:54 - 10:58You can see more
of this proposal elsewhere. -
10:58 - 11:01All I want to do now
is to give you a flavor -
11:01 - 11:04of what the whole purpose of this is.
-
11:04 - 11:06Decentralized europeanization
creates circumstances -
11:06 - 11:09for national sovereignty
and national responsibility -
11:09 - 11:10to be strengthened.
-
11:10 - 11:14Because if we integrate
these three spheres in Europe -
11:14 - 11:18of existing debt, of banks
and investment flows, -
11:18 - 11:20then at the national level
-
11:20 - 11:23each member state
can run a balanced budget, -
11:23 - 11:25and can learn to live within its means,
-
11:25 - 11:29and also to be empowered
within these limits -
11:29 - 11:33to exercise a full national sovereignty.
-
11:33 - 11:36So I present
this Decent Europe proposal to you -
11:36 - 11:40as if you want a forger
of a future Federation's prerequisite, -
11:40 - 11:44which I already mentioned
and I won't mention again. -
11:46 - 11:48Let me finish by reminding you of a myth,
-
11:48 - 11:51according which Sibyl of Cumae
-
11:51 - 11:55offered Tarquinius Superbus,
the king of Rome at the time, -
11:55 - 11:59the nine books of wisdom at a price that
Tarquinius considered to be exorbitant -
11:59 - 12:01and therefore he said no to the offer.
-
12:01 - 12:06Sibyl as you all know started burning
one of these volumes after the other -
12:06 - 12:10until Tarquinius relented agreeing
to pay the original high price -
12:10 - 12:13for the remaining three volumes.
-
12:13 - 12:17Let me suggest that the European crisis
is following Sibyl's strategy. -
12:17 - 12:21The problem is that our European leaders
keep saying no -
12:21 - 12:23and therefore threatening
-
12:23 - 12:29to allow our common heritage
to burn in its entirety. -
12:30 - 12:35Decentralized europeanization
offers Europe a chance -
12:36 - 12:39to save its last three books
of wisdom or the equivalent. -
12:39 - 12:43It offers us a chance
to usher in a new era -
12:43 - 12:47in which Europeans,
Northern and Southern, -
12:47 - 12:51Western and Eastern,
can stare into each others eyes -
12:51 - 12:54and see and recognize a partner.
-
12:54 - 12:57If we miss this chance,
-
12:57 - 12:59then Europe is going
to be dragging the whole planet -
12:59 - 13:03into a despicable mire
for a third time in a century. -
13:03 - 13:09It is our duty and over overarching
obligation to prevent this. -
13:09 - 13:11Thank you.
-
13:11 - 13:14(Applause)
- Title:
- A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy
- Description:
-
Professor Varoufakis proposes a decentralized system for europe in order to transform it before the crisis of the system crashes Europe. He studies all the different possibilities of actions that can be taken and explains why his proposal is the best option.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:22
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Dimitra Papageorgiou commented on English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Dimitra Papageorgiou edited English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Chryssa R. Takahashi commented on English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Chryssa R. Takahashi commented on English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Ivana Korom approved English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Ivana Korom commented on English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy | |
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for A Modest Proposal for Transforming Europe: Yanis Varoufakis at TEDxAcademy |
Ivana Korom
Hi Chryssa, thank you for completing this transcript. Just a note: don't forget to edit the title and description!
Chryssa R. Takahashi
Oh... I did actually, I'm pretty sure I did. I guess it got lost when it didn't save and I had to downlad a backup. It probably didn't take the title/description edits.
Chryssa R. Takahashi
Thanks for the quick approval :)
Dimitra Papageorgiou
9:50 - 9:52 End the soothest solidarity
soothest - > pseudo
Corrected upon request.