8 ms·

What is the deal with George Soros anyway and why is he such a bogey man to the far right?

• danharaj 8y ago
  He's Jewish and a billionaire.
  • laretluval 8y ago
    That must be why he’s been condemned by such noted antisemites as the Israeli foreign ministry... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-hungary-soros/israel-backs-hungary-says-financier-soros-is-a-threat-idUSKBN19V1J4 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-hungary-soros/isra...
    • danharaj 8y ago
      Are you saying that it is physically impossible for the Israeli government to collaborate with antisemites?
      • astrodust 8y ago
        Money and power have a way of seeing past such trivialities as prejudice and/or principles.
        • smt88 8y ago
          Case in point: Zuckerberg and Sandberg
      • atribd 8y ago
        Well I think most people would find it curious for the jewish state to be antisemitic. At that point I think we should then officially redefine antisemitism to the meaning it seems to have acquired today, which is any criticism or negative comment aimed at a person of jewish descent.
      • Ericson2314 8y ago
        Netanyahu has denied (that the Nazis instigated) the Holocost. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/netanyahu-absolves-hitler-of-guilt-1.5411578 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/netanyahu-absolves-hitle...
  • prostoalex 8y ago
    But aren't most pro-Israel groups conservative?
    • ameister14 8y ago
      They're pro-Israel because they're pro-apocalypse, not because they like Jewish people.
      • thetrumanshow 8y ago
        This is an interesting and strange viewpoint I have never heard before. Might you elaborate?
        • Apocryphon 8y ago
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism
          • thetrumanshow 8y ago
            Ah, that is an interesting idea, and worthy of more study. I had always understood the Christian basis of friendship with the people of Israel was from Genesis 12:3, which suggests that those who "bless" the children of Abraham would be blessed.
        • emiliobumachar 8y ago
          I don't know much about it, but I think there's an old Christian prophecy about Jews dominating the Holy Land as one of several omens preceding the actual Apocalypse, the Second Coming of Christ. People who want the Apocalypse would presumably support Israel because if Jews lose control of the Holy Land, then we're not there yet.
          • chasd00 8y ago
            it's true, i'm trying to remember. there's a couple things in the bible about Jews and some temples and some other things, that once built or once the right people have control then that marks the beginning of the second coming. ...something like that, i left Christianity a long time ago.
  • zjaffee 8y ago
    So is Zuckerberg.
• xienze 8y ago
  Because he funds tons of leftist causes. Sort of like how the Koch Brothers are the left's boogeymen.
  • refurb 8y ago
    Exactly. Billionaire’s funding political organizations are only bad if they don’t support your side.
    • deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  • ahoy 8y ago
    I'd make a clear distinction b/t liberal causes and leftist ones. Soros is a very wealthy capitalist and he's not funding anything that would upset that order.
  • astrodust 8y ago
    It's one thing to fund "leftist causes" that promote social good. It's another to fund climate change denial groups so you can mine more coal and build more coal plants and utterly destroy everything in the interests of making a few more bucks.
• luckydata 8y ago
  he's rich and Jewish (yes, I'm implying antisemitism) and had a major hand in a (legal) monetary speculation that produced a currency crisis in the UK and since then conspiracy theorists of all sorts think he's the mastermind behind the world's economy and all kinds of nefarious plots.
  • thoughtexplorer 8y ago
    Nonsense. If antisemitism played a significant role, Ben Shapiro wouldn't be the darling of the right. For example. Soros would be the boogyman regardless, it comes down to the fact that he's pouring tons of money into political causes. Like the Koch brothers do on the other side. It's simple. No need to add additional theories.
    • tzakrajs 8y ago
      Ben Shapiro’s facile arguments appeal mostly to younger, inexperienced politic fans and the right needs all of the youthful fervor they can muster. I am sure this has something to do with their embracing of Shapiro. He has followers.
      • thoughtexplorer 8y ago
        I'm no fan of the right, but saying that Shapiro's arguments are facile is being intentionally blind to reality. There are not many who are better at debate and making strong arguments. He's one of the best and probably the best on the right. At his events he asks the audience to disagree with him. He gets excited when a guest disagrees with him. He'll also call them out when they say something that can't be backed up. He's constantly sharpening his positions. If you can make better arguments, then you should start doing so. Seriously. Because not many can.
        • root_axis 8y ago
          > if you pay tuition, you're sponsoring the militant homosexual agenda. If you pay taxes, you're sponsoring the militant homosexual agenda. If your child majors in English, you're sponsoring the militant homosexual agenda. Tell Billy to major in math - Ben Shapiro. > Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage. This is not a difficult issue. #settlementsrock - Ben Shapiro. > Renewable energy: dumbest phrase since climate change. See the first law of thermodynamics, dumbass. #tcot #teaparty - Ben Shapiro.
• snackbugs 8y ago
  I've never seen a clear explanation of the right's grievances regarding Soros, but what I can put together contextually is that he is a wealthy source of finance or power brokerage for political action involving anything left of far-right. There is also a deep, non-explicit anti-semitic tinge to it all as well. However everything I have heard him about his didn't come from credible sources. I've honestly wondered for a long time as well.
  • Spooky23 8y ago
    His short of the UK pound was used by a lot of talk radio nutcases to link him to various conspiracy theories (rothchilds, elders of Zion, etc). Many of the modern internet provocateurs seem to have been raised on a steady diet of late night talk radio. The key thing about those sorts of things is that the lack of evidence is itself evidence of the grand conspiracy.
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
• lawnchair_larry 8y ago
  He’s one of the most wealthy contributors to left wing activism. It has absolutely nothing to do with him being jewish - those claims demonstrate the ignorance of the left regarding how right-leaning voters (who are overwhelmingly pro-israel due to their religious beliefs) think. Same thing the left says about Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson (also Jewish, oops, there goes that theory), etc, just reversed. The left’s complete failure to understand the other side is why they were so shocked that Trump got elected. And it looks like we are in for a repeat in 2020, since they’ve learned nothing.
  • guelo 8y ago
    I think you're right about antisemitism not being that big of a factor outside of the more extreme right wing corners. But I do think the nature of the Soros attacks highlight the mainstream right's propensity for believing in, or knowingly disseminating, false conspiracy theories.
  • tprnz 8y ago
    This here is the truth. idk why people blame it on antisemitism alone (not saying it does not play a part). He's veeery wealthy and uses that wealth to push left wing politics through his foundations and stuff. I've seen many examples of left wing/communist/degenerate stuff that, when traced back, leads to one of his foundations. It's normal that those who are not left wing don't like him. That doesn't mean they are antisemitic automatically.
    • pjc50 8y ago
      "Degenerate"? Soros was explicitly anti-communist before the fall of the Soviet union.
  • spamizbad 8y ago
    It has a tremendous amount with him being Jewish. At least one person has shot up a Synagogue because of it. If you can point me to a left-wing agitator violently attacking Jewish people over the actions of Sheldon Adelson I'd love to see it. Otherwise this is just intellectually-lazy "Both-sides"ism.
• gisely 8y ago
  Because exploiting anti-semitism for political gain has a reliable historical track record, and for modern anti-semites he is the new face of the protocols of the elders of zion.
• mturmon 8y ago
  In addition to other comments nearby: He has been an intellectual leader of the movement to integrate and democratize Europe, and he has been hawkish on Putin's intentions. You can read for yourself: he has written a bunch of articles at nybooks.com (e.g., https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/10/08/ukraine-europe-what-should-be-done/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/10/08/ukraine-europe-w...)
• baud147258 8y ago
  He's funding a lot of pro-migration and pro-open borders groups
  • mikeash 8y ago
    Are there any groups that are actually in favor of “open borders”? It seems like that term has become co-opted to mean any border enforcement that’s anything short of what the extremists want.
    • charlchi 8y ago
      The UN for instance supports open borders. This is obvious if you look at the views of those involved. The former director of the IOM was recently very involved in the UN migration compact. There's an interview with him on YouTube somewhere from the past year where he openly admits that he strongly supports mass migration into Europe, calling it "inevitable". Europeans are funding immigrantion into their countries, whether they like it or not.
      • mikeash 8y ago
        I skimmed the UN migration compact and don’t see anything like “open borders” in it. It explicitly states, “We commit to manage our national borders in a coordinated manner, promoting bilateral and regional cooperation, ensuring security for States, communities and migrants, and facilitating safe and regular cross-border movements of people while preventing irregular migration.”
        • charlchi 8y ago
          The compact itself is ideological babble. Carefully listen to this interview and his views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88KuVlYFXsI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88KuVlYFXsI This guy was in many UN meetings in relation to the compact. If you watch the interview, his view is that Europe has colonized many places, so it only makes sense that Europe now open its borders. He specifically states in the interview he has no concern for nationalists or those who worry about mass migration. He says that they need to drive the fear of mass migration out of the people of Europe through public education programs. He says that it's a matter of people's viewpoints needing to change. He's very much pro-immigration. The view that mass migration into Europe is inevitable, and that the UN and its surrounding organisations need to facilitate that and make it "safe, orderly and regular", is widespread among the people writing and setting up these documents and allocating the money the UN and it's partner organisations spend. That's why I said, Europeans are funding the welfare behind the facilitation of mass migration into their countries. If you want to find out more, consider documents like these and their supporting studies. It is also largely filled with ideological babble, which is why I am less than optimistic about mass immigration and the supposed integrated Utopia that is supposed to arise from that: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/publications/migration-without-borders/ http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/theme... We've seen how well integration works in Britain and Sweden...
• pjc50 8y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Society_Foundations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Society_Foundations In particular, OSF backed the pro-Western side in Ukraine. This has resulted in a well-funded disinformation campaign against it and him by Russia.
  • cat199 8y ago
    waitwait, i thought this was 100% popular and no foreign intervention was happening on either side, except of course for evil putler who is clearly a spawn of satan and attempting to control the whole world
• hangonhn 8y ago
  He's a Jewish banker. It's a dog whistle for the extreme right wing. Some people thinks he's the far right bogey man like the Koch Brothers are to the far left but there's an extra layer of anti-semitism attached when it's heard/read by certain groups. It's not just that he funds causes that are antithetical to the far right but the fact that he's a Jewish banker -- the favorite scape goat of various groups throughout history (both far left and right have targeted this group). It's gross and disgusting.
• partiallypro 8y ago
  The same reason the Kochs are the boogeymen of the left (not even the far left. Pelosi and others attended a conspiracy movie about the Kochs, and they have been chastised in the Will Ferrel movie "The Campaign." Not to mention how they were accused of things from Maddow & co back in 2009.) People need a boogeyman because the real world is far too complex to comprehend, so having puppeteering bad guys is easier to deal with than reality of people actually having genuine beliefs that you don't agree with. There definitely is some Antisemitism, though I don't think that's the main driver, the left also chastises Sheldon Adelson, who is also jewish.
  • ModernMech 8y ago
    This is a false equivalence. The Kochs are blamed by the left for the vast amount they spend in politics, which is something they actually do. The right blames Soros for insanity, like funding a migrant caravan from South American, or for funding crisis actors to pretend school shootings are happening. That's insanity. There's a clear difference here.
    • hueving 8y ago
      The only clear thing is your bias. People on the left also blame Kochs for insane consipiracies and people on the right criticize Soros for the money he spends on politics. Which you get exposed to depends on your echo chamber. Echo chambers don't share the rational arguments of their opposition because nobody wants to think the outgroup has a point.
      • jimjansen1 8y ago
        Equating Soros and the Kochs is literally insane. Edit: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/donald-trump-george-soros-caravan https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/donald-trump-george-... Please find me an example of Obama publicly endorsing a left wing conspiracy theory about the Koch brothers. I'll wait.
        • root_axis 8y ago
• virmundi 8y ago
  A part of it is antisemitism. Specifically it's the Jews that supposedly led to WWI, WWII, and the financial crisis, blah, blah, blah. That undercurrent in some of the right, unfortunately, sweeps people along. The rational side is Soros funds NGOs that actively seek to bring individuals from Africa and the Latin countries into the wealthier Western nations. His proxy organizations seek to undermine national sovereignty under the guise of humanitarianism. They've funded the flotilla from Africa to EU causing the migrant crisis. Many have pushed for their respective countries to open borders in general. They're doing the same thing with caravan to the US. So if you're on the left, you probably see this as perfectly fine. Why not embrace people from failing nations who want to be in your country? The right looks at many of those same people as individuals who don't want to assimilate, but rather mooch off the welfare states of various countries. They've warned about the ghetto-ionization of nations by peoples that are fundamentally opposed to Western ideals. Since Soros is a major proponent of the left, the right dislikes him. Who knows how it will end? https://sovereignnations.com/2018/03/24/soros-immigration-network-exposed-italy/ https://sovereignnations.com/2018/03/24/soros-immigration-ne... https://fdik.org/soros.dcleaks.com/download/index.html%3Ff=%252F2016%252Finternational%2520migration%2520initiative%2520governance%2520and%2520enforcement%2520may%252012%25202016%252Fimi%2520governance%2520enforcement%2520prd%25205.12.2016.pdf&t=president https://fdik.org/soros.dcleaks.com/download/index.html%3Ff=%... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6MrztGBmHg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6MrztGBmHg - longer, but attempts to prove his payment of the caravan.
  • matt4077 8y ago
    What you're calling "rational" is just more conspiracy theories. But nice try to appear impartial there in the beginning. Soros started by funding most of the opposition in Poland in the 1980s, making him a key factor in the downfall of the Sowjet Union. And he has basically not changed since... He's for "Open Societies". Practically, that means supporting opposition parties or groups in any country that lacks freedom of speech. Also journalism, job training for groups traditionally excluded from majority society like kurds or Roma. I have personally worked with his Foundation, when they gave almost a million to the Debating World Championship. As in: Oxford & Harvard students arguing for/against anything, including extremely conservative positions. He isn't trying to increase migration. He tries to improve the plight of those who have already fled. That may increase migration in the sense that shooting migrants at the border would decrease it, yes. But that logic is neither intended, nor accepted anywhere else. Unless you believe killing all sick people would be just as effective as vaccinations.
• InTheArena 8y ago
  He's the Koch of the left. He funds groups that agree with him politically, and has out-sized influence because of it. Since our own biases allow us to interpret people positively when they agree with us, and vilify them when they disagree with us, Soros and Koch are the various bogeymen and/or heroes depending on a particular point of view. He also gave a very poor and ill-advised interview, where he once stated that (despite being Jewish) he helped Nazi's confiscate properties from Jews in a sixty minutes interview. He stated that he didn't help later in the interview, but the damage was done.
  • InTheArena 8y ago
    Given that this went way up, and then way down, I'm curious who is working to vote this way? I find it kind of curious who gets offended by statements like this.
• Itaxpica 8y ago
  The Times actually did a great writeup on this exact thing recently: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/us/politics/george-soros-bombs-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/us/politics/george-soros-...