George Soros Screen Shot from “Soros”
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been under attack for years because of his support for liberal political causes. Now George Soros is under renewed attack because of an op-ed he published in the Wall Street Journal in defense of his support for certain local district attorneys who agree with his position on reforming America’s criminal justice system.
George Soros has made millions in donations to local political campaigns over the years. The local prosecutors and politicians whom he supports have a new and different view of America’s criminal justice system. This is not a popular position among certain groups.
So, once again, George Soros is being used and abused by some people as a political scapegoat, someone to put the blame on for all of society’s ills.
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No other philanthropic Jewish billionaire has ever had to endure the kind of anti-Semitic mud-slinging which this man has gone through and he never stooped to the other side’s level.
So many people simply regurgitate whatever they hear on talk radio or the news channels. One such smear of Soros is the accusation that he was a collaborator who served in the Hitler Youth during World War II.
So, what is George Soros’ sin exactly? Well, he is of the opinion that spending society’s money on locking drug addicts in prisons for years is counterproductive. Soros – like many experts on the issues – is in favor of changing the way that society deals with crime in general and allocating resources more towards improving the quality of life and crime prevention, rather than on more prisons.
But this is not something very popular among large segments of the general population. So populists will use this as a “wedge issue,” a way to rile up the base on prove that the other side is “soft on crime.”
“The idea that we need to choose between justice and safety is false,” wrote George Soros in his op-ed. “The agenda of reform-minded prosecutors is based on both common sense and evidence, and it helps to restore trust between the police and the policed.”
George Soros supports using money better – by investing in psychological services as a form of crime prevention. “We need to invest more in preventing crime with strategies that work — deploying mental-health professionals in crisis situations, investing in youth job programs, and creating opportunities for education behind bars,” he said. “This reduces the likelihood that those prisoners will commit new crimes after release.”
“This agenda includes prioritizing the resources of the criminal-justice system to protect people against violent crime,” added Soros. “It urges that we treat drug addiction as a disease, not a crime. And it seeks to end the criminalization of poverty and mental illness.”
George Soros also had a few words about the controversial mantra “defund the police.” He explained that this is not about leaving the police with no money.
“The goal is not defunding the police but restoring trust between the police and the policed, a partnership that fosters the solving of crimes,” he explained.
“Many of the same people who call for more-punitive criminal-justice policies also support looser gun laws,” added George Soros.
It is not clear how any of this is so controversial that it justifies the continued venom filled attacks against George Soros by publication such as the New York Post.
For the record, George Soros survived the Holocaust by living with a Christian Hungarian family. He was forced to hide his religion and Hungarian law required him to join its fascist youth organization. And for the record, he was just a teenager at the time.
The attacks on him accusing Soros of having been a Holocaust collaborator and for being a communist today – he definitely is not – are undeniably anti-Semitic slanders.
The real problem is, however, that many Jews have joined in on these slanders. How can they allow themselves to get caught up in such clearly anti-Semitic attacks?
George Soros should actually be a role model for Republicans and businessmen alike. He is a completely self-made man who built his fortune by playing the game of capitalism the way it was intended. He engaged in investments and currency speculations, winning big when taking risks like when he bet against the British Pound.
His is a Horatio Alger type rags to riches story. But he is also a Jew. Could that perhaps be the reason why he is so scorned? Does a rich Jew in America need to be a supporter of conservative causes to avoid such scorn?
