# Is Soros actually actively trying to change U.S. policy? Or what is the basis of the hatred? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682 "2018-10-29T18:33:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![TheKidsAreAltRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@TheKidsAreAltRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheKidsAreAltRight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/101 "2018-11-02T19:41:53Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Secretly funding liberal Jewish groups makes ‘one no friend to Jews?’ I generally like people people who give me money, maybe maybe I just don’t understand the intricacies of your religion. Are liberal Jewish people who are not supportive of a conservative Israel just not real Jews? He has attempted to demonize and marginalize Israel within the international community. That is not liberal or conservative but Anti-Jewish. This thread, however, is not the appropriate place to have this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/102 "2018-11-02T19:52:56Z")
> [@TheKidsAreAltRight](#): > > He has attempted to demonize and marginalize Israel within the international community. That is not liberal or conservative but Anti-Jewish. This thread, however, is not the appropriate place to have this discussion. ISTM that the conflation of Jews as a group with Israel as a nation-state **is** relevant to this thread. If people are trying to call Soros antisemitic or “Anti-Jewish” for opposing particular Israeli policies, that’s pertinent to the OP’s topic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/103 "2018-11-02T20:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **XT** : > > You aren’t a billionaire who’s words and actions are published by the press repeatedly and who can call a press conference anytime you want to get your views out. You don’t contribute large checks to various organizations you support, which magnifies his own participation quite a bit more than your’s… > > YOU think he’s trying to make the country better, but that’s because you probably mainly align with what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. If you were opposed to his vision or his methods you’d almost certainly be less sanguine about the man. You’ll notice that I put him in the same category as the Kochs and Adelson, that of “people who (by virtue of being really rich) can influence policy more effectively than I”. Now, you’re right that I mostly disagree with the Koch’s and Adelson’s goals, and mostly agree with Soros’ and Buffett’s. But I view what all of them (including the Kochs) are doing as legitimate, under the rules as they currently stand. And I also think that those rules should be changed, to decrease the outsized influence of billionaires (including Soros). ---
**Author:** ![TheKidsAreAltRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@TheKidsAreAltRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheKidsAreAltRight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/104 "2018-11-02T20:44:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You’ll notice that I put him in the same category as the Kochs and Adelson, that of “people who (by virtue of being really rich) can influence policy more effectively than I”. Now, you’re right that I mostly disagree with the Koch’s and Adelson’s goals, and mostly agree with Soros’ and Buffett’s. But I view what all of them (including the Kochs) are doing as legitimate, under the rules as they currently stand. And I also think that those rules should be changed, to decrease the outsized influence of billionaires (including Soros). Legitimate seems an odd choice of a word. If you really want to attack this problem with regulation the first step is to denormalize it with language. Something being legal does not make it legitimate. Can you be more specific about the policies you would support. We obviously all support lobbying being more regulated but what would regulation of NGOs(or even think tanks) look like. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/105 "2018-11-02T20:57:04Z")
> [@TheKidsAreAltRight](#): > > Something being legal does not make it legitimate. This is a nitpick, but do you even dictionary? That’s what the word actually means. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/106 "2018-11-02T20:59:59Z")
> [@TheKidsAreAltRight](#): > > He has attempted to demonize and marginalize Israel within the international community. That is not liberal or conservative but Anti-Jewish. This thread, however, is not the appropriate place to have this discussion. Lots of Jewish people agree with him, at least to some extent. I don’t see how you can say that’s “Anti-Jewish.” ---
**Author:** ![TheKidsAreAltRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@TheKidsAreAltRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheKidsAreAltRight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/107 "2018-11-02T21:03:48Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > This is a nitpick, but do you even dictionary? That’s what the word actually means. I won’t address your cringy reddit language. Legitimate has multiple uses. Its second def on [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) is “in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards.” This contributes to its connotation and using it the way OP did clearly normalizes the practice he was claiming to oppose. ---
**Author:** ![TheKidsAreAltRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@TheKidsAreAltRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheKidsAreAltRight)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/108 "2018-11-02T21:06:40Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Lots of Jewish people agree with him, at least to some extent. I don’t see how you can say that’s “Anti-Jewish.” Obviously many Jews are Anti-Jewish. The author of this lovely article being one. [American Pravda: The ADL in American Society, by Ron Unz - The Unz Review](https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-the-adl-in-american-society/) ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/109 "2018-11-02T23:07:25Z")
Soros > [@](#): > > “challenging Israel’s racist and anti-democratic policies” Is not Anti-Jewish it is anti-ethostate. It is a false equivalence to claim that they are related. Of course Bush and Obama who also committed similar Human rights violations want to paint it that way. But it is absurd to conflate these two even if the anti-Semites do try to hijack the topic. There is a good reason far-right extremists like Trump and Richard Spencer to look to Israel as a _White ethnostate_ model. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682/110 "2018-11-23T00:10:50Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Actually you did a good job of repeating what the left wing says about the Koch’s. They are not right wing, they are [classic liberalists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism) in the purest of sense. They have and do support democratic candidates on the federal and local levels, that support free market principles. Snort. They also support Glenn Beck, and the pro-Trumpist and wing-nutty American Spectator. (Examples: “According to Common Core, soft core porn is preferable to Jane Austin,” and this month’s comparison of Trump to Winston Churchill, [practically separated at birth!](https://spectator.org/from-churchill-to-trump/)). The Daily Caller Foundation, propping another Trumpist lickspittle publication, receives generous funding - over 80% of their budget in a recent year. [Charles Koch Is Funding Rightwing, Pro-Trump Media, New Disclosure Reveals](https://readsludge.com/2018/11/21/charles-koch-is-funding-rightwing-pro-trump-media-new-disclosure-reveals/) If you fund such loons, you are a loon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-soros-actually-actively-trying-to-change-u-s-policy-or-what-is-the-basis-of-the-hatred/823682.md?page=5)