Varoufakis argues that we no longer live in a capitalist society and that although capitalist relations remain intact, techno-feudal ties have begun to take over.
Traditional capitalists, he suggests, have become "vassal capitalists" subservient to and dependent on a new generation of "masters." These gentlemen are large technology companies that are generating huge fortunes with the help of new digital platforms.
According to him, a new form of algorithmic capital has emerged, which Varoufakis calls "cloud capital," which is displacing "the two pillars of capitalism: the market and profit."
Marketplaces have been replaced by "digital marketplaces that look like marketplaces but aren't."
Varoufakis says that once a user enters amazon.com, he "leaves capitalism" and enters a "feudal hell," a digital world owned by one man and his algorithms.
This gentleman determines what products you will see. If you are a seller, the platform determines how you sell and which customers you can reach. The terms on which you interact, share information, and act are governed by "something" that "contributes to Jeff Bezos' profits."
Access to the "digital fiefdom" comes at an exorbitant rent. Varoufakis noted that many other developers, for example, receive a third of their total revenue from the Apple Store, while Amazon charges its sellers "35 percent of revenue."
He argues that this is like a medieval feudal lord sending sheriffs to seize most of his estates because he owns the property and everything on it.
Another thing is that big tech companies are immune to free market competition.
Users unwittingly train the algorithms of big tech companies, turning everyone into high-tech "servants of the cloud."
The 'cloud of capital' that we keep creating for them increases their ability to create more wealth and thus increases their power, which we are only beginning to understand."
According to Varoufakis, about 80 percent of the income of traditional capitalist conglomerates goes to wages, while workers at large technology companies earn less than 1 percent of their company's income.
According to Varoufakis, we are witnessing a technological revolution and an economic process driven by technology. It forces us to come to terms with what has happened to our economy and society in the age of big technology and big money.
