Posted by The so-called “Critical Theory” was invented by Max Horkheimer in the early days of the Frankfurt School and modified by Juergen Habermas as the central ideology of Neo-Marxism in Germany in the 1970s. Its main philosophical opponent was Karl Raimund Popper’s “Critical Rationalism”. Popper, an Austrian Jew who taught at the London School of Economics, is the author of two pivotal works: “The Open Society and its Enemies” and “Conjectures and Refutations”.
Very much in a nutshell, one could say that what Popper envisaged as an open society is one that is based on democracy and the uninhibited exchange of information and opinions, on free press, and free and open debate – much like the founding fathers of the American Republic and authors of the US Constitution. In “Conjectures and Refutations” Popper debates how we should establish truth and determine what is a fact and what isn’t. He postulates that theories and assertions that do not meet the minimum requirement of being falsifiable, should be considered mere opinions. He calls this the criterion of fallibilism.
Popper identifies what he calls “historicistic” theories as the worst enemy of rational debate and truth-finding, and consequently also of the open society.
Historicistic theories claim that they know the inevitable course of human history and that they can therefore predict the end-stage of history. In the case of Marxism and Communism, the claim is that Marx and Engels discovered the developmental law of history and that, therefore, Marxists are able to predict the end to which all historical development will inevitably lead: Communism and the Classless Society.
Popper maintains that this is patently false, because of the simple fact that history is a singular event, i.e., it happens only once. We cannot determine rules of development (if any there are at all) for an event that happens only once. Just like we would not be able to extrapolate the rule of insect development if we only once watched one caterpillar transform into a butterfly. Human history happens only once and cannot be repeated like a physical experiment and therefore the requirement of falsifiability is not met. Its end result can therefore not be predicted by scientific methods, which is why any prognoses of future historic events have inevitably the character of secular prophesies. The historicist can assume and make plausible predictions, but he cannot reliably prognosticate.
Since historicistic ideologies, movements, and organizations cannot prevail under the premise that their core assumptions may potentially or perhaps even probably be wrong, they must dogmatically insist that their prophesies are correct and true, come hell or high water. This is the door through which closed-mindedness, intolerance, orthodoxy, and authoritarianism enter the stage and once they have joined the scene, all openness goes out the window.
I always wondered why of all people in the world George Soros should feel drawn to Popper’s concepts of openness and fallibilism. Soros made his money by almost busting the Bank of England in 1992 and through other very smart but not necessarily legal currency speculations. His many “Open Society Foundations” have been backing left-wing causes and organizations like Antifa, BLM, and Planned Parenthood, and over 200 other causes with massive financial support. I cannot name a single truly right-wing or conservative organization that received significant funding from any of the Soros organizations, which, themselves, are mainly supported by left-wing donors and contributions.
At first, I assumed that Mr. Soros may not really have read Popper’s books in their entirety or that he did perhaps not fully understand Popper’s ideas about democracy, science, and openness. But when I opened the 2020 English edition of Popper’s “Open Society and its Enemies” and found a foreword by George Soros right on the first two pages, I was truly baffled. Soros discloses that he studied for some time under Popper at the LSE and that reading Popper’s above mentioned two books was a shocking revelation for him. He states that he nearly fully agrees with Popper and his values, and this is why he founded all his “Open Society Foundations”.
If ever a person should not be judged by his words but by his deeds, this person is George Soros. In many “Soros” websites, he and his employees elaborate adamantly about the perfidiousness of their fascist opponents who wrongly accuse Soros and his organizations of undermining the very democracy he claims to support; and of interfering with the politics and electoral processes of many different countries including the USA, e.g., by supporting the anti-Brett Kavanaugh campaign. “Not true!” they scream. “We do not do that.” They insist. But the facts simply show they do do it.
Soros is persona non grata in several countries and his organization is banned for promoting left-wing fascism and anti-Judaism. On February 11, 2017, the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal issued the following recommendation to the Croatian government:
“Ban George Soros’ and his organizations’ work in Croatia and declare George Soros a persona non grata in Croatia.”
And his own homeland, Hungary, banned Soros, his organizations, and the Soros-founded and funded Central European University for obstruction and undermining Hungarian society, messing with its electoral system, and promoting illegal immigration. So did Israel, because the “Open Society Foundations” had openly agitated against Israel.
This article does not have enough space to list all of the Soros ventures that are incompatible with Popper’s concept of an open society and with Soros’ claim to strive only for openness and true democracy. In fact, most of what Soros and his organizations do, would seem to fall into Popper’s category of “enemies of the Open Society”. Visit: https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/open-society-foundations/
If we judge George Soros by his deeds rather than by his words, it would seem that the name “Open Society Foundation” does not correctly reflect the activity profiles of his organizations.
How about “Closed Society Foundations”?
But let’s give Soros the benefit of the doubt. I Just read that the 93-year-old George Soros retired from active duty and put his financial and influence peddling empire into the hands of his son Alexander, who allegedly made immediate sweeping changes. He is pulling out of Europe and is now focusing the activities of the Open Society Foundations on other parts of the world and global issues. This smacks of global warming and World Economic Forum.
The Soros people remain mute about changes in content and topics. But perhaps they will now concern themselves with issues that truly support what they have been giving lip service to: an Open Society.