10 Questions For George Soros

By Karen Tumulty; George Soros Sunday, Feb. 22, 2004
    • The Hungarian-born billionaire has spent $4 billion on causes from fighting disease to fostering democracy, but his latest passion is politics — and he has pledged at least $15 million to defeat President Bush. He also blasts Bush foreign policy in a new book, The Bubble of American Supremacy, and is taking his message to college campuses. TIME's Karen Tumulty talked with him.

    WHY IS A MULTIBILLIONAIRE HANGING AROUND ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES?

    In my book, I argue that it's not enough to reject the Bush Administration's policies in the election, but we also have to rethink America's role in the world. It concerns the future of the students currently on campus, so I'm taking these issues to them.


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    DO YOU HATE GEORGE BUSH, OR WHAT?

    No, I think that he has taken the country and the world in a very dangerous direction. And I think that he was elected on a platform of a humble foreign policy, and since Sept. 11 we have been trying to impose our will on the world. I think it's very important that we should reject his policies.

    CRITICS HAVE CALLED YOU AN EXTREMIST AND AN OUT-OF-TOUCH LEFT-WING RADICAL. WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE?

    I have been engaged for the last 15 years in promoting the values of an open society throughout the world. It is those who describe me as an extremist who happen to be the extremists against whom I am warning the electorate.

    YOU HAVE COMPARED GEORGE BUSH'S POLICIES WITH THOSE YOU EXPERIENCED LIVING UNDER NAZI AND SOVIET TOTALITARIANISM. THAT'S PRETTY TOUGH STUFF. WHAT DID YOU MEAN?

    I did not call Bush a Nazi, and I wouldn't call him a Nazi, because I know the difference between an open society and a totalitarian regime. However, when he says that those who don't support him are supporting the terrorists, I am reminded of Nazi Germany and communist Soviet Union. The Bush Administration has been able to brand those who oppose their policies as unpatriotic, and that endangers the very essence of an open society.

    THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION LAST WEEK GAVE A QUALIFIED GO-AHEAD TO SPENDING BY INDEPENDENT POLITICAL GROUPS. WILL THAT AFFECT YOUR POLITICAL SPENDING?

    No. I am not violating either the letter of the law or the spirit. The letter, because the institutions that I'm supporting were there before I started supporting them. The spirit, because campaign-finance regulation has been designed to deny access to special interests, and by supporting these organizations, I gain no access.

    HOW MUCH MORE OF YOUR MONEY DO YOU INTEND TO PUT INTO THE EFFORT TO DEFEAT BUSH?

    As little as possible. But there is a tremendous discrepancy in the amount available to the Bush Administration's truth machine and those who are critical of it. I feel that it's necessary to ensure that there is at least an audible voice to oppose the onslaught on the Democratic candidate that is imminent.

    WHICH OF THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES DO YOU LIKE THE BEST?

    I was keen on Dean. I have very high respect for General Clark, whom I knew in the Balkans. And I'm absolutely delighted that Senator Kerry has emerged as the front runner, because a war hero who wants to use military force only as the last resort stacks up very well against a warmonger who has not experienced war personally.

    HOW DO YOU THINK DEMOCRACY IS FARING IN RUSSIA UNDER VLADIMIR PUTIN?

    Very badly. Most of the attributes of an open society are now eliminated, because you don't have an effective opposition in parliament. You don't have an independent mass media. And the owners of capital have been put on notice that they must toe the line or else.

    IS THE OUTSOURCING OF JOBS BAD FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY?

    Since I am not a candidate for office, I think that globalization on the whole is good for the economy. Outsourcing does cost jobs, and it is the job of the Administration to create new jobs, and that is where the Bush Administration is failing.

    JUST BETWEEN US, WHERE SHOULD I BE MOVING MY 401(K) MONEY?

    I know the answer. [Laughs.] But I'm not at liberty to disclose it.