Another review of Adults in the Room, by Yanis Varoufakis - PAUL TYSON
I am a philosophical theologian, so I am going to respond to this
astonishing political biography in the terms of my expertise. Adults in
the room is firstly a prophetic text. I am thinking of ‘the prophetic’ in
Socratic terms here..
“ ‘There are two
kinds of politicians,’ he said: ‘insiders and outsiders. The outsiders prioritize
their freedom to speak their version of the truth. The price of their freedom
is that they are ignored by the insiders, who make the important decisions. The
insiders, for their part, follow a sacrosanct rule: never turn against other
insiders and never talk to outsiders about what insiders say or do. Their
reward? Access to inside information and a chance, though no guarantee, of
influencing powerful people and outcomes.’ With that Summers arrived at his
question. ‘So, Yanis,’ he said, ‘which of the two are you?’ ”
This is a very
engaging and unusual book. It is unusual in that it is not simply a political
biography but a reflection on the nature and meaning of power in our times. No
doubt its detractors will think of it as vanity publishing that is only about
Yanis. But this kind of tack has been a standard method of not listening to
what Varoufakis is actually saying and tells us more about the egoistic
bankruptcy of those driving the attack. The fact is, the
tumultuous days that ended in the dying of the first Syriza government are the
canary in the mine for the Eurozone and global high finance. Whatever
Varoufakis’ views of himself may be, what he has seen and heard and attempted
to do is profoundly revealing of the inner workings of power in our times. The
pathologies of power in our times will unleash catastrophic destruction on us
if we do not understand and address them: so this really is an important book.
I am not going to say
much about the history of 2015 that Varoufakis outlines other than you should
read it. The events described are tragic and chilling. But I am going to take
an unusual line in evaluating this book here, because the book itself is so
unusual in its reflectiveness on the relationship between power, ideas and
personalities in our times. You (and probably the author) may find the
hermeneutic key set I am going to bring to this short essay startling, even
inappropriate, but if you come along for the ride with me, I think you will
find it illuminating.
I am a philosophical
theologian, so I am going to respond to this astonishing political biography in
the terms of my expertise. Adults in the room is firstly a
prophetic text. I am thinking of ‘the prophetic’ in Socratic terms here, which
I will unpack below. Secondly, this is a text that refuses conspiracy theories
and moralizing entirely, and yet it is uncannily astute in discerning the
dynamics of dark power and the manner in which people are tragically caught up
in those dynamics. Adults in the Room is thus a striking
exposé of the “principalities and powers” that are the “rulers of the darkness
of this world… in high places” that largely define the meta-conditions of our
daily lives… read more:
Book review: Is 'Adults in the Room' by Yanis Varoufakis one of the greatest political memoirs ever?
