In Defense of Open Society

By: George Soros

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

An impassioned defense of open society, academic and media freedom, and human rights.
George Soros -- universally known for his philanthropy, progressive politics, and investment success--has been under sustained attack from the far right, nationalists, and anti-Semites in the United States and around the world because of his commitment to open society and liberal democracy.
In this brilliant and spirited book, Soros brings together a vital collection of his writings, some never previously published. They deal with a wide range of important and timely topics: the dangers that the instruments of control produced by artificial intelligence and machine learning pose to open societies; what Soros calls his "political philanthropy"; his founding of the Central European University, one of the world's foremost defender of academic freedom; his philosophy; his boom/bust theory of financial markets and its policy implications; and what he calls the tragedy of the European Union. Soros's forceful affirmation of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea is a clarion call-to-arms for the ideals of open society.

Surprisingly interesting

The fact that the book's title references Karl Popper was a sign that this would more than just a typical rich man's tale. Soros is a straight up philosopher and an interesting one at that.

An accurate worldwide snapshot in the brain of a beautiful mind. A global philosophy worth to endorse and stand for.

Full of harsh truth and uncommon honesty, this is the most comprehensive book I have read in 2020.
It addresses and challenges the fundamentals of conventional thinking that rules global politics, economics, and society.
It proposes a straightforward approach to correct critical issues and threats to modern and open societies through a pragmatic philosophy. In summary, it's an accurate worldwide snapshot in the brain of a beautiful mind. A global philosophy worth to endorse and stand for.

Interesting

This man has helped many societies to develop work and more stable economies, yet I don’t understand why he is so vilified by President Trump and many others. He is quite self-congratulatory, but he also rose from very humble beginnings. That is something to be proud of.

Doesn't explain the hottest issues

This book tells a lot about how Soros has messed with plenty of foreign governments, often speaking clearly negative about what they are doing. Blames plenty of people as corrupt while admitting his own lies and trechery from years ago.
Doesn't exactly shed much light on what exactly this "Open Society" is, it's foundation, and how his activity is supposed to improve anyone's lives.

What he does speak of in great detail - are economics. He is certainly competent in that as evidenced by both his wealth and this book. Perhaps he did foresee the 2008 crysis and was right about most or even everything his says in those chapters. Sure did better than most.

The philantropy part - remains largely him patting himself on the back.

extra ordinary

for all the fake and sensationalized stories re: the man this open and honest account of his life is well written, engaging.