The Soros Short and Lenin

Some well intentioned do-gooders are really down-right evil. In the pursuit of some theoretical good (which often conveniently includes their own self interest) they destroy that which exists with blatant disregard for the suffering they cause. This was certainly true with Lenin, but George Soros now emerges as our modern-day correlate.

The David Medienkritik blog reveals an emerging thread regarding George Soros' own "do-gooder" philosophy combined with his personal self interests. It is widely publicized that in Dec 2003 Soros had a large short position on the U.S. currencies and has voiced his willingness to invest in an anti-Bush position:

"America, under Bush is a danger to the world," the Hungarian-born financier-slash-liberal philanthropist told the Washington Post on Wednesday. "And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is."

While this may sound like any other politically active contributor, Soros has a deep rooted obsession against free-market capitalism and a history of going way beyond political contributions to actual currency manipulations (see Krugman's informal notes on this topic).

True, the free-market of capitalism allows speculation against currencies, but Soros has a visceral dislike for capitalism as it is understood by conservatives and by Republicans (see the Rand publication The Crisis of George Soros, which is a chapter of a larger work "Stradling Economics and Politics").

According to Soros, the flaws of capitalism (i.e., market fundamentalism a la Reagan and Thatcher) "lead Soros to predict the imminent disintegration of the global capitalist system, and to assert that '... the global capitalist system will succumb to its own defects.'" These are views consistent with the Democratic viewpoint and with the Left, in general. And these are the parties that hasten the advent of this disintegration.

The 1992 currency adjustment of Great Britain (arguably toward a sustainable equilibrium) and of Thailand in 1997 may have been to Soros personally profitable, but these provided painful benefits to the free market system. Soros, like most of the Left, doesn't feel the pain of forced upon others by his experiments. He continues in his misguided efforts to shape global currency relationships.

His philosophical "experiments" and political views directly affected (perhaps precipitated) the Russian meltdown of 1998 (see the CFR's book review here). Soros, like Lenin, didn't see the painful results of his experiments. He only saw with detached curiosity the effects he wrought on the capitalist system.

In some ways, this is the beauty of the relatively unregulated global currency market - people are free to identify and exploit imbalances in currencies. This is capitalism. It may create pain, but the results of free-market movements tend to be sustainable.

It is Soros' philosophic view, though, and his willingness to "put his money where his mouth is" that makes us suspect that he has more sinister motives. He is one that has more than a simple political desire to see Bush defeated. This is deep-down vitriol against the capitalist system, coupled with a profit motive.

Soros' investments in the Kerry and Democratic agenda, his visceral aversion to the capitalist system, and his short position on the U.S. market - all of these seem consistent with one objective. He seeks to bring down our brand of free-market capitalism. He knows that Kerry would make serious progress on this viscious agenda. That is why he has a short position on America. He is hoping to profit from the destruction of our economic system. That is why he wants Kerry to win.