Why Armenia Fears The Name SOROS (Part I)

 

Since the collapse of The Soviet Union, the name George Soros became the stuff of legends and the central focus of endless conspiracies/conspiracy theories (CT) insisting, often without any tangible evidence, that Soros and/or the “Foundations” he finances worldwide are determined to destroy the social fabric of conservative societies in the name of an ill-defined “Openness” or liberalism, ready to trespass all red lines delineating the boundaries of any culture with strong roots in history.

 

 

 

 

In reality, Soros and a long list of multi billionaires, who amassed a mind-boggling wealth during the last three decades, represent a breed of capitalists who have often failed to distinguish ecstatic visions, of solving complicated problems affecting our planet, from sheer frenzy.

 

Thanks to the power of wealth, they have gained prominent positions in major international forums where they have promoted with a loud voice, simplistic slogans as a “cure-all” for the ailments paralyzing the progress of humanity. Some famous examples are:

 

-          Educate the poor, provide free education via grants and scholarships, build universities and libraries, and within a generation you will eradicate poverty. Not only this warped simplistic formula never wins the battle against poverty in third world countries, but a closer look at The US and Canada proves that thousands of highly educated PhD graduates are forced into menial jobs to survive and support their families, and a substantial number use food stamps (food banks in Canada) to meet basic dietary needs. I guess when you live in the posh areas of New York, San Francisco, or LA you will never see a PhD graduate panhandling while holding a sign at a major intersection with the following writing: “I have a PhD in Humanities I speak 5 languages but I need one job to feed my family.”

 

-          Vaccinate the poor children of the world and once their bodies are immunized against devastating diseases, they will become the foundation of a strong labour force that will liberate a poor country from the claws of poverty.

 

-          Create “Open” societies using as your model the European experience, and you will put an end to the corruption that is sustaining kleptocracies pilfering State coffers and imposing dire poverty on a significant number of independent countries.

 

The notion of an “Open Society” based on the European model holds a unique place in the heart and mind of Mr. George Soros. Two European philosophers shaped and coloured the views of Mr. Soros: the French philosopher Henri Bergson and the Austrian-born British philosopher, Karl Popper.

 

The starting position of Mr. Soros is the argument that our planet is divided into two major types of societies:

 

A)    The society where tribal and clannish values, principles, and distribution of rewards prevail. It is a society that crushes individualism and indoctrinates every generation to trust the tribe and fear everyone else. The tribe encourages its members to subordinate their dreams to the collective well-being, and refrain from pursuing any goal that may undermine the collective values that have shaped the history of the tribe. The tribe is not inclusive of the “Other” and the “Different”, therefore trade and economic progress stagnate, tribal leaders become susceptible to corruption, and wars become inevitable simply because when you narrow down your choices to your own limited territory, raiding the other tribes and stealing from the others becomes the most expedient way to satisfy the basic needs of your survival.

 

B)    The geographical entity known as The European Union is the embodiment of “The Open Society”.  A large network of independent states that decided to remove internal borders to encourage freedom of movement for people and goods, guided by the ultimate hope that experiencing with new arrangements can pave the way for economic prosperity and political stability for every country in the union. According to Mr. Soros, “Piecemeal Engineering” brought The European Union into existence. It is not perfect, but it can and should be used as a blue print/prototype to guide all the new countries, that emerged following the collapse of The Soviet Union, in internal governance and external interaction with neighbouring sovereign countries.

 To implement the European experience on a planetary scale, Mr. Soros launched The Open Society Foundations (OSF) with the clear goal of funding groups, associations, movements dedicated to fundamental principles of justice, free unobstructed elections of rulers who abhor corruption and govern with the explicit consent of the governed and full respect of human rights. 

After reading the noble goals stated by OSF, and the guiding philosophical principles that gave momentum and direction to the goals pursued by OSF, one sees an extremely close, almost  a “Copy-Paste”, similarity between the goals of OSF and the UN, the organization entrusted with the clear mission of implementing  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (Resolution 217A).

 Technically UN members should be fully dedicated to the protection of UDHR. But the Security Council, with five permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain, and The United States of America), have transformed long time ago “International Relations” into a political landscape where powerful states remind the weak ones that "the strong will do what they can and the weak will suffer what they must", thus making a mockery of international law and turning The UN into a puppet institution that merely ratifies what military power has achieved on the battlefield. 

With a big disappointment in the institutional failures of The UN, OSF decided in 1979 to implement its crusade, the noble principle of establishing transparent governance, in South Africa. An experimental venture that started with “Scholarships” to black South African students, ready and willing to transform the “Apartheid Regime” of the country into an “Open Society” where black and white citizens share power without reliance on violence.

 How successful was the first experience of The OSF in South Africa, after almost four decades of relentless efforts to change a regime and bring it closer to the “European Example”? We can confidently state that The OSF’s efforts were not a shining example of success. Scholarships and higher education did not change the tribal mentality of the black leadership that dominated the political discourse in South Africa since the early 1990s.

 Nelson Mandela, the key political figure and the spirit that animated the black struggle to end apartheid, was released from prison on February 11, 1990. Within a very short period of time, numerous scandals plagued The African National Congress (ANC) in general and Winnie Mandela (Nelson’s wife) in particular. Like every revolutionary who quickly forgets his/her humble origins once in power, Winnie adopted a lifestyle mostly associated with the glamour displayed by “The Nouveaux Riches”.

 She relied on goons masquerading as members of the “Mandela United Football Club” (MUFC), to eliminate with extreme brutality black opponents who dared to challenge her warped views about the sense of directions the “Black Revolution” should take in South Africa.

 In 1991 Winnie Mandela was charged, prosecuted, and convicted for ordering the kidnapping and execution of a teenage activist named Stompie Seipei, found with a slashed throat and dumped in a street of Soweto with clues labeling him as a traitor/informer. An impartial court immune to political interference found her guilty and sentenced her to a prison term of six years. An appeal launched by her lawyers to a higher court, totally immune to political interference reduced her sentence to a fine-a blatant miscarriage of justice that does not reflect the European standards of an “Open Society”.

 In 1992 a separation ended the marriage of Winnie to Nelson who was constantly trying to deflect from the tarnished image of The ANC allegations of corruption involving Winnie.

 In 1995 Nelson adopted the radical step of dismissing his wife from his cabinet. It was a desperate attempt to convince the rest of the world that the revolutionaries of yesterday, are much better than the apartheid regime in governing the country with transparency and full adherence to democratic principles.

In 1996 the couple divorced, and Winnie decided to stay on the political scene with a revamped image under the surname of Madikizela-Mandela. The new image did not change the core of her corrupt psyche. She was back in court, year after year, for allegations of corruptions involving multiple thefts and questionable bank loans. 

The successors of Nelson Mandela, all of them selected from the ranks of The ANC, were no better than Winnie in their corrupt practices of running the country. Currently South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma is the subject of a judicial inquiry probing allegations of high level graft (corruption for personal gain) during his reign that stretched from 2009 to 2018.

Not much is known about South Africa’s current president Cyril Ramaphosa drive and determination to fight corruption. No one can answer with certainty if he ousted Zuma from power to put an end to the plunder of state resources, or exploited corruption as a convenient political tool to rally The ANC against Zuma and propel himself to the presidency in February 2018.

But 2009, the year Zuma reached the presidency of South Africa, has a unique significance. It marked thirty years of presence of The OSF in South Africa and millions of dollars donated by Mr. Soros to produce via good education, leaders who can place on a higher pedestal the collective good, while systematically suppressing the temptation to accumulate tremendous personal wealth in the process of running a country, which is not the same as building a nation. No matter how you try to analyze the South African experience with the principles of an “Open Society”, it seems to the average observer that Mr. Soros is either deluding himself with the notion that a good education is a panacea for containing and reducing the ravages of political corruption, or he is turning a wilful blindness to the reality promoted by The British politician, historian and writer Lord Acton, who always reminded the British public with unwavering conviction that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

The European experience worked, not because the European countries were the first to adopt with total sincerity The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, as the pillar upon which governments should rest and establish the key conditions shaping the bonds between governor and governed. In 1948 a strong wave of sympathy for The Soviet Union was sweeping countries such as France, Italy, Greece. An alarming election in Britain (June 1945) put an end to the Conservative dominance of British politics since 1935, and in July 1945 Labour leader Clement Attlee became the new Prime Minister of England.

 Yes, Prime Minister Churchill was famous for defeating Hitler’s army, but the names Joseph Stalin, Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, and Marshal Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan (a.k.a The Soviet hero of The Baltics) became legendary warriors exalted by every socialist newspaper published in Europe between 1945 and 1948. Western Europe was forced to adopt extraordinary measures to prevent serious labour unrest, following a devastating war that left most of the continent in ruins.

The US Marshal Plan injected close to $15 billion dollars in European countries for the reconstruction efforts. Labour movements were allowed freedom of expression and gathering. Collective bargaining powers were invested in leftist unions. Western Europe reached a simple consensus with labour movements: Distance labour from The Soviet Union, remain loyal to your country, join the democratic process to ensure a peaceful transition of power, and in return The State will be the guarantor of rights clearly listed in the 30 Articles constituting The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948.

 Philosopher Adam Smith was right when he stated that “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.”

In other words, the capitalists of Europe, the leading captains of industry in Europe, and the financiers who amassed tremendous wealth while the blue-collar workers of Europe were barely able to put bread on the table, opted to have an “Open Society” to save their own destinies from the serious peril of communism. It was never the love of the poor or the marginalized that forced Western European governments to preach respect for human rights and dignity for the workers, but the sheer political expediency to save the destiny of the ruling elite.

In every country where the concept of an “Open Society” has gained a solid foothold since 1948, ruling elites were paraphrasing to union leaders and movements seeking social justice the saying of Lord Winston Churchill: “Democracy is bad but every other system humanity tried is worse, that includes communism.”  Basically, accept our voracious appetite to accumulate wealth in return we will create for you conditions that will make our excesses and the resulting sufferings manageable.

In my next article (part II) I will explain why Armenia’s obsessive preoccupation with Soros and conspiracy theories (CT) are detrimental to the national interests of Armenia. Essentially the national obsession masks the identities of the real enemies of our nation. 

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