McCain and Soros

Steve Clemons has a very interesting take on these two guys, having a attended a dinner with both in New York last week. Most notably McCain, who will be running in the primaries. And an equally interesting insight into Soros, with this remark:

But then George Soros discussed a bit of his background and tutelage under the famed Karl Popper — and his thinking about where Popper’s views on “open society” were limited and no longer useful. Soros suggested that simply undermining totalitarianism did not automatically lead to open societies and that such implosion of power and control could lead to ongoing collapses within the respective country.

Is Popper still relevant?


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4 responses to “McCain and Soros”

  1. copernicus avatar

    The key to Popper’s Open Society is the immutability of institutions – societal infrastructure capable of surviving poor democratic choices by the masses. So, yeah, he’s still relevant because the Open Society is about more than simply undermining tyranny, it’s about putting in place those legal and political institutions that prevent those in power from undermining the democratic character of the state.

    Sadly, Ireland, which is not a tyranny, doesn’t have solid enough institutions to act as a counterbalance and prevent populism and Tent at the Galway Races style lobbying from underminning the socio-economic viability of the country.

    Even the USA has stronger institutions and a more coherent separation of powers.