Philosopher-capitalist tries to ope

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Philosopher-capitalist tries to open up Burma 

The Nation
March 2, 1997

Philosopher-capitalist tries to open up Burma 

Net Trek by James Fahn 

I am not a professional security analyst. I would rather call myself an
insecurity analyst.George Soros 

If George Soros had not become a financier, he might have made a good
psychiatrist. After all, he has a similar (Jewish, Central European)
pedigree to Sigmund Freud. Or perhaps he should have been a comedian: the
quote above could easily have come from the mouth of Woody Allen. 

Instead, Soros makes money by trading money. And as we all know by now, he's
pretty darn good at it. His Quantum Fund NV has the best record of any
investment fund in the world over the last quarter century: if you had
invested US$100,000 in it in 1969, you would have owned $130 million by the
spring of 1994. 

But unlike so many other businessmen, Soros seems to have dedicated his life
to non-material pursuits. He claims to spend half of his income and most of
his time on building up his impressive philanthropic empire. You can see the
breadth of his vision by visiting the Soros Foundations Network website at
<http://www.soros.org/>. 

Soros' political concerns are every bit as far-reaching as his financial
interests. He has set up more than two dozen independent, non-profit
foundations in Central Europe, the former Soviet Union, Haiti, South Africa
and the US. 

Apart from his supposed speculative attacks on the baht, Soros' biggest
impact on Thailand probably comes through his support for the Burma Project,
which is run out of Soros' New York-based Open Society Institute and is
dedicated to helping Burma make the transition from a closed to an open
society. 

Now I wonder what Khun Samak would say if he knew about that... Maybe he'd
send those Phetchburi godfathers out on a house call! 

The Burma Project's activities are outlined on its website at
<http://www.soros.org/burma.html>. Curiously, it does not mention the
BurmaNet/BurmaNews listserve, which sends subscribers daily news updates via
the Internet and has become an invaluable tool for Burma-watchers
everywhere. According to a staffer, however, the Open Society Institute was
one of the founders of BurmaNet, which you can access by sending e-mail to
Majordomo@xxxxxxx, and writing subscribe burmanews-. 

Soros has managed to ruffle bigger feathers than Samak's. Most recently, he
wrote the cover article for the Feb issue of Atlantic Monthly, entitled The
Capitalist Threat. You can read it at
<http://www.theatlantic.com/atlantic/issues/97feb/capital/capital.htm>. 

The article has created quite a stir by arguing that with the demise of
communism and fascism unchecked capitalism now represents the biggest threat
to free and open societies. No less an authority than The Economist,
defender of the free-market faithful, saw fit to rebut Soros, labelling his
argument as "preposterous uninhibited pursuit of self-interest... is
currently running riot... only, thank goodness, in Mr Soros's imagination,"
harrumphs the editorial writer, who sounds like another chap that could use
an eye-opening visit to Thailand. You can check out The Economist's
editorial, entitled Palindrome Repents, at
<http://www.economist.com/issue/25-01-97/ld4519.html>. 

If you want to find out about Soros the man, youÕd be well advised to pay a
visit to the Darren Goh's Unofficial George Soros home page, at
<http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/3880>. Through his speeches and quotes,
you can get an inkling his philosophical leanings, which include a rejection
of the notion that ultimate truth is attainable, and a belief that random,
chaotic processes have far more impact than classically acknowledged. 

Economic theory needs to be fundamentally reconsidered, Soros says. There is
an element of uncertainty in economic processes that has been largely
unaccounted for. He admits his own analytical abilities are deficient, but
he compensates through a strong critical faculty hence the claim to being an
insecurity analyst. 

Discern the chaos, and you could become rich, he adds. Thus, no doubt, the
name Quantum Fund, which refers to the revolution that overthrew classical
physics and enshrined an element of uncertainty into the universe. 

Soros, in short, is doing what a lot of us would like to do if we became
nauseatingly wealthy follow our intellectual pursuits but he stands out
because so few of the super-rich seem to do likewise. Most simply seem
obsessed with making more money. 

Soros is always trying to be a philosopher, writes Goh. He fails to realise
that he [already] is a philosopher. By mastering the markets, and putting
his philosophic leanings into practice, he has become a philosopher of life. 

Or as Soros himself puts it:...The philosophy which guided me both in making
and spending money... is not about money, it is about the human condition. 

Have any suggestions? Complaints? Picks? Pans? Utterly random thoughts you'd
like to share? Please send e-mail to jfahn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 




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