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Underwriting Democracy

"I began my work directed at opening up closed societies about ten years ago..." (from the first line)

One of the world's leading philanthropists describes his experiences helping to bring about democratic change in Eastern Europe--experiences that are especially relevant now that America has begun to intervene to create functioning democracies.

Annotation:
Revolutionary businessman George Soros is phenomenally successful and deeply committed to his principles, putting them into action through his well-endowed Open Society foundation, which supports grassroots movements in places such as the former Eastern bloc. In UNDERWRITING DEMOCRACY he tells how he was able to help change history and bring about the collapse of the Soviet bloc by providing financial and other support to people united for change. Soros explains the theoretical framework under which the Open Society Institute operates; the ideas derive from history, political science, economics, and systems theory, and they apply business world knowledge and sense to social change. Soros also explains his role as "stateless statesman," and, writing in 1991, looks to an indeterminate future.

Author Bio

George Soros

Born in Hungary in the 1930s, George Soros grew up in the Nazi period and came of age under Communist rule. He survived, only barely, by concealing his identity as a Jew (changing his name from Schwartz), and by going into hiding. Soros fled to Paris as a teenager, and later to London, where he studied at the London School of Economics under his most lasting lifelong influence, the philosopher Karl Popper. ||Soros worked at low-level jobs, including as a handbag salesman, and at investment firms in London and, in the 1950s, New York City. In time, he started a business and became a legendary manager of the Quantum Fund, making millions investing in markets worldwide. He was named top moneymaker several years in a row, and became a legend in the business world. He also wrote his book, THE ALCHEMY OF FINANCE.||Soros lost millions at the end of the 1980s and withdrew from an active role in his companies, as he embarked on a new life as a philanthropist. In this capacity, following the ideas of his hero, Popper, he founded the Open Society Foundation. As a philanthropist, Soros is engaged, bold, and imaginative. He has given money to schools and universities in America, but is better known for his worldwide efforts to promote democracy and open governments, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union. Sometimes his ventures have encountered serious resistance from authoritarian regimes (in Belarus, for example), and Russia's Valery Putin became a strong adversary. ||As an author of several books, including THE CRISIS OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM, Soros has been critical of globalization. He has also been one of the most active critics of George W. Bush, and it is said that Soros spent over $25 million in an unsuccessful effort to prevent Bush's reelection. The Soros worldview is sometimes antithetical to his corporate peers as well as those in political power in the U.S., but worldwide Soros is a respected figure for his business success, for his writings, and for forging a new philanthropy--in the manner of Bill Gates, Ted Turner, and a few other phenomenally wealthy people.