Chapter 15 Chapter 15 The Price of Freedom

Soros decided that he would use his wealth to promote open societies, self-determination, and empower people to express themselves freely and pursue their own goals. Section 1 Philanthropy and Democracy For George Soros, early in his business career, philanthropy was such a distant thing that he hated the very word "charity." In 1993, he told reporters: "In a civilization like ours, which is based on personal interests, philanthropy is out of place. Because our civilization is by no means based on caring for the interests of others." So , people close to Soros remember that he never talked about the importance of resettling the poor.He would be willing to donate large sums of money, but not private individuals.He hopes that he can have a huge social impact. In order to achieve this goal, he must donate money to associations, even society, and donate with great fanfare.

He still remembers the treatment of him by the Jewish Protection Committee in London, which changed his view of the cause of charity.He told reporters: "You should know that I'm actually against the charity fund. I think it's much more important to figure out what the foundation is for, what it's trying to accomplish, than it is to run the foundation itself, and the foundation Can and can only exist because of this. He believed that any organization, including his own, would necessarily "become qualitatively altered and corrupted" because the people in it would seek wealth, power, and ease.

He never tires of telling people about his former foundation, the Central Park Social Foundation.Its purpose is to recreate New York's Central Park.As it happens, another agency, the Central Park Conservancy, has the same mission.When Soros's foundation maliciously attacked this organization, Soros was shocked. He not only stopped this bad behavior, but also "shot" this social foundation.He said afterwards that he was more proud to disband the foundation than to start it. However, if he continues to want to do good things, these situations are inevitable.He had no choice, he still had to create foundations, and he could only do what he could to make them work.

The question is, how should he go about donating?Since he was Jewish, wouldn't it be natural for him to donate to his fellow Jews? Soros never denied his Judaism, he just put it aside.He had been deliberately refraining from donating money to Israel until 1986, when he befriended the Israeli public affairs commentator Daniel Dujon, who then made a small donation to Dujong's think tank in Jerusalem.Later, Gul Ofer, a professor of economics at the University of Heber in Jerusalem, tried his best to get close to Soros, hoping that he would establish a fund to accommodate the 500,000 Jews who flooded into Israel from the Soviet Union in the previous two years. Soros insisted against it and broke off the conversation.

Why Soros is so opposed to donating to Israel?Skull later recalled: "This is because he believes that Israel is too left, and unless Israel changes itself, otherwise, there is no point in supporting it. In his thinking, there are anti-Zionism and even anti-Zionism. He believes that the Jewish people should live in peace in the society he lives in today. As Soros searched for a world that would make him a "successful person," he felt that the watershed moment in his life came when he escaped from the "closed society" of his birthplace, Hungary, and left Hungary. What is freedom, first in England, then in America, why not give those people in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union the same opportunity to try freedom?

Soros decided to use his wealth to promote open societies, to promote self-determination, to enable people to freely express their thoughts and pursue their own goals. To undermine socialism, Soros has been providing money to finance rebellions in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.The revolution that leads not to the fortifications, not to the streets, but to the minds of the common people, is peaceful, slow, gradual, but never interrupted, and in the end it will lead to The Birth of Democracy in the Nation. What Soros plans to do, the resistance is huge, the Communist government will not automatically fall into his arms; he also knows that he cannot treat these countries roughly, some efforts may succeed, some efforts may also fail, he He knows his own abilities are limited.So it's all about choosing the angle that will make the most impact for him and his philanthropy, as he intends to use his wealth to reshape the political map of Europe, as Rothschild did.

In the beginning, when the Communist Party ruled these areas, it was easy to exert influence in these areas, but later, when the Communist Party was not in power, it was not so easy.Soros said about this: "When you propose a change program, it will be crushed immediately, because, as soon as it is compared with other similar programs, it will seem false." But Soros knew very well that Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union could not be brought down by the money in his pocket alone. In addition to using money, he had to instill Western values ​​in Eastern Europe. After all, only the West is open. Where social ideas prevail.

Soros is very disgusted with those who don't like other people spending money everywhere. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of international trade at Harvard University, is also an economic adviser to some countries such as Poland, Russia, and Estonia. Viewed through a different prism, George Soros among government leaders reacted more positively to him than did anti-Semitic groups, ultranationalists, and other xenophobic groups, which responded more positively Negative attitude." In fact, it was not easy for Soros to establish a beachhead in these Eastern European countries. The Romanians hated him because he was Hungarian; the Hungarians hated him because he was Jewish; was a Jew, so he was literally double negatived.

In the West, Soros is not without making enemies. He has been accused of being a "modern Robin Hood", extracting wealth from the rich West to the poor East. In September 1992, people found out indignantly that if all of Soros's support to the East was counted, it was equivalent to "stealing" an average of 12.5 pounds from each British citizen to support the East.Regarding this attack, Soros was very humorous. He said: "I think the West should do something for the East, so I am very happy that I can represent the West. Of course, not every British citizen was bothered by Soros' acts of generosity.When Nell McKinnon was asked what he thought of Soros being accused of looting £12.50 from every British citizen and sending it to Eastern Europe, the London-based Citibank chief The economist replied, "It's cheap for freedom."

Soros's involvement in philanthropy began in 1979, when he was in South Africa.He decided that the University of Cape Town seemed to be a liberal place, so he offered scholarships to black students.But things backfired: Soros found that most of his money went to registered students, with only a small amount allocated to a small number of new students.He withdrew funding for the school. "South Africa was a source of tears," he later explained, "without doing anything compatible with that system. In Eastern Europe, of course, he felt he had leverage against the system: "This is the An exciting heroic career that pays off and is a lot of fun.We are doing a business of undermining the system.We are willing to fund anything.We fund numerous projects, but only in small amounts, because any act of autonomy would undermine the dogma of totalitarianism.

Once Soros focused on Eastern Europe, he felt the need for a role model.He chose his native Hungary.It just so happened that some reformers in the hapless Janos Qatar government had also taken notice of Soros.They desperately need foreign funding for their distressed government. French.Basha, who was one of the heads of the government's economic ties at the time.When Basha and Soros met in 1984, Soros explained that he was interested in starting a charity.Negotiations have begun.Overseeing them on behalf of the government is Georg Akzer, the only Jew on the Hungarian Politburo, Hungary's unofficial "cultural tsar" and a close friend of Prime Minister Qatar. Soros chose as his personal representative a formidable Hungarian dissident, Miklos Vasahnij. In 1983, Vasahlei met Soros for the first time when he was working at the International Change Institute of Columbia University in New York. internal members.The Soviets crushed the revolt, Najib was hanged, and Vasahnyi was expelled from the Communist Party and sentenced to five years in prison. Vasahniyi guesses that there is no more than half the chance of establishing such an institution.On the plus side for Soros, the Hungarian government wants to change its image abroad in order to get Western loans and hard currency.The downside is that Soros is dealing with a communist country, which has no experience in managing charitable foundations with returnees, and has no experience in letting returnees try to encourage an "open society." Even if the Hungarian government agrees with Soros' plan to create a foundation, it does not intend to give him freedom to act.For his part, Soros insisted on acting independently. "I'm going to come to Hungary and give the money to someone I think I can trust," he protested.Government officials responded: "Mr. Soros, bring your money here and we'll distribute it for you. Negotiations dragged on for a year.Soros is only willing to donate two to three million US dollars, but this figure is too big for politicians.The government is willing to aid scientific research, but Soros would rather give it to those individuals in charge of the foundation who want to travel, write or engage in art.The government wants foundations to fund machines, Soros wants to fund people. In the end, Soros and Basha appear to have overcome their differences.The Hungarians signed the relevant documents.One said: "Great! Your secretariat can tell our external culture department what it needs to do and we will do it." In other words, the Hungarian government has so far insisted that the new Soros Foundation be under the control of the Ministry of Culture.To the shock of the Hungarian negotiators, Soros rose from his chair and walked to the door.He would not sign the documents. "It's a pity that so much time and energy wasted to get it done," he said.He is a seasoned negotiator. After saying this, he stood up and walked to the door.As soon as his hand was on the doorknob, Hungarian officials relented, agreeing to give the Soros Foundation greater freedom of action. With this concession, Soros signed the papers.He promised to contribute 1 million US dollars to the operation of the foundation every year in the foreseeable future. In 1993, that number increased to $9 million per year. The calculation basin of the Qatari government obviously hopes that by promoting scientific research, Soros' foundation can more or less silence the mouths of the country's scientific elite.Things turned out to be nothing like that.Scholars who were sent abroad to study abroad through Soros Foundation scholarships returned home armed with novel Western ideas such as market economy and democracy. The breakthrough of the Soros Foundation in Hungary owes much to that photocopier episode.That time it earned a reputation as an aggressive reforming force.Prior to this, the Hungarian authorities tightly controlled all machines that could be used for underground printing and subversive purposes.At that time, very few people in Hungary had ever seen a photocopier.Soros decided to provide 400 photocopiers to free groups, universities, and scientific research institutions in Hungary, on the condition that the government agrees not to monitor their use.Anyway, he got the consent and permission of the government, maybe because the government needs hard currency. Soros and his foundation have faced distrust from the government.During its first four years (1984-1988), the Foundation was prohibited from advertising its work program in most Hungarian media.The name of George Soros and the term "Soros Foundation" cannot appear in most media, and the government thinks it is too much if it appears a few times.The conflict reached its peak in 1987. The foundation gave a young man a sum of money.This person wants to write a biography of a Hungarian prime minister in the early 1950s, Majas Rakoci.A title for the forthcoming biography appeared in World Economy magazine.This is the only Hungarian publication permitted to advertise foundations.The current prime minister, Janos Qada, saw it and thought, "This won't work. Tomorrow Soros will give people bonuses to write my biography." Qatar extended the ban on the media to include World Economy. Soros was enraged, and he threatened to close the Soros Foundation. "The situation was tense for two or three weeks after that," writes Mikoros Vasahniyi, "and finally calmed down." Door.Rakotsey's biography was finally published, and the turmoil died down. In 1988, Qatar and nearly all party leaders stepped down.Soon after the new leader came to power, Soros was invited to meet with the new party general secretary Karoli Gross.It was a sign that the foundation had received special favor from the government because he had never been allowed to meet with a leader. This enhanced relationship was short-lived, lasting only until 1989.At that time, the government's anti-family sentiment was already evident, and the foundation's status in Hungary was declining.Nowhere in eastern Europe has right-wing criticism of Soros been sharper than in Hungary.An eight-page article was published in September 1992, entitled: "The White Mosquito Is Devouring Our Country—Reflections on the Soros Regime and the Soros Empire. Soros made it clear that he would not be Intimidate." These people are actually trying to create a closed society based on racial identity.I therefore expressly oppose them and am happy to make them my enemy. By 1994, the Soros Foundation in Budapest had established its 10th anniversary and carried out 40 projects: funding free groups and Iranian education; providing scholarships; foreign travel is preferred.These are youth projects.The Soros Foundation even has a program funding debates in schools. "The idea of ​​debate is not widespread here," said Lazlo Kayi, a dark-bearded administrator at the Foundation, "the vibe here is one where you take orders rather than debate. But despite its relative success, foundation administrators feel there is more to be done. "Hungary is still not an open society," Kayi said. "We had to change a lot of institutions and ideas. You can form a political party, participate in parliament, participate in free elections. These things have happened in Hungary, but this cannot be done. Creating an open society is only the beginning. Soros has been outspoken about what he hopes to achieve through his foundation's sponsorship. "Instead of reaching the national standard directly, we are going to weaken the foundations of dogmatic ideology indirectly through political action against the government. Debate between different ideas is the stuff of democracy. Section 2 Duel Romania After establishing a foundation in Hungary in 1919, Soros decided to expand his charity work.Bewitched by the idea of ​​setting up a foundation in the world's largest Communist-run country, he entered China in 1986.His investment is very small, only a few million dollars, and he wants to use three years to gain insight into the "unfathomable" East.But he failed miserably.He made up all kinds of excuses, accusing China's secretive policy of hijacking his local organization.He also had trouble with Chinese culture. "This is Confucian ethics, not Judeo-Christian ethics. If you help someone, he will be very grateful to you, and he will like you to take care of you and be loyal to you for the rest of his life. That is the complete opposite of an open society. "Although Soros suffered setbacks in China, he did not hesitate to travel to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 1987, he began his efforts in the Soviet Union; in 1988, he went to Poland, and in 1989, to Czechoslovakia.However, one of his biggest challenges is Romania. In Romania in the 1980s, the average monthly salary was only $50.Even in the early 1990s, groups of people stood outside lifeless stores, using their handouts to buy cheap milk.These stores import some very limited quantities of products from the West.In the early years, inflation was as high as 400%, and purchasing power was almost lost.Many young people try their best to find various ways to go abroad. In 1989, there was a revolution in Romania.Speaking with Human Rights Watch officials in New York, Soros insisted: "We have to do something. We have to do something. Those people seem to be committing suicide." The war had not yet broken out, but Soros sensed that it was about to start.His prediction was correct. On December 16, 1989, Romanian security forces opened fire on demonstrators in the Termislonia area, causing a large number of casualties.Ceausescu declared a nationwide emergency of martial law as the protests and discontent spread to other cities. Five days later, on Dec. 21, protests took place in Bucharest, where security forces opened fire on demonstrators, and the armed forces joined the rebels the next day.Calling themselves the "Salvation Council", the force announced that they had overthrown the government. Cicesescu fled, but a new battle broke out as the army was now in the hands of the new government, which sought to disenfranchise Ceausescu from the armed forces. December 23rd.Ceausescu was captured, and two days later, after a quick trial, the Ceausescues were found guilty of genocide and the Ceausescues were executed. This seemed an ideal time for Soros to get involved. Helsinki Watch sent an investigative mission to Romania in January.Sanjue Pralang, who was born in Romania, was the guide and interpreter of the group. In 1974, when she was 15 years old, she went to Sweden, and then entered the Tufts University Fletcher School of Diplomacy in Boston to study, and later became an assistant to the "Human Rights Watch" organization in New York.As she was preparing to leave the United States, she received a call from George Soros, who said he was going to fund a charity called Brothers of Brothers, which was sending medicine and other supplies to Romania. "I want to ship them medical supplies, but I don't want them to fall into other hands." Soros asked if she could go and see if the medical supplies had been distributed directly to those in need through official channels .Prarang promised to do his best. At that time, Soros wanted to visit Romania in January, hoping to establish a foundation there.As for the management of the foundation, he thought of a dissident in the country's leadership, Alin Teldoresco, 39, a former dissident organization called Social Dialogue "The leader. On December 22, 1989, the day the rebels came to power, Teldorezco found five cars full of plainclothes police parked outside his house, his phone line was cut and he was barred from leaving the house , became a real prisoner. Teldorisko had never heard of George Soros—no surprise that he had no idea what a foundation was or what it was supposed to do. On January 6, 1900, he and Soros met for the first time. It took a lot of setbacks. Soros did not agree in advance. Accompanied by a personal agent——, appeared on the steps of Teldoresco. Teldorisco was busy with one meeting after another, when a colleague told him: "There are two Americans waiting for you outside, and one of them said he was a billionaire." Teldorisco did not leave, "Oh, come on. Leave them alone," he said rudely.After the revolution, the Americans came a lot, and they told Teldoresco and other dissidents that they had money and wanted to help.So, he made Soros wait for 2 hours.Finally, a secretary knocked on Teldoresco's office to let him know the two men were still here. "Let them in." The billionaire walked in with his assistant. "Dark, my name is George Soros.", "Okay," said Teldoresco, unmoved. Soros then introduced Vasahniyi. Teldorisco had heard of Vasahnij, a dissident himself, a prisoner and, to many Eastern Europeans, a hero.Vasahniy's presence made Teldorisco want to give Soros some time.Unimpressed by many billionaires, the Romanian dissident is unlike any other dissident. The next day, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Higalest, the three had breakfast together.For the first half hour, the Romanian was chatting with two Hungarians. Finally, George Soros cut the topic. "I'm a billionaire," he began. "Hmm," was Teldoresco's usual response. "I would very much like to set up a foundation in Romania. "What is the Foundation?" Teldoresco asked sincerely. Soros explained patiently. "You take money from me. You have a board. You advertise that you have money and people can come and apply. Then you give the money away. Soros said he wanted Teldorisko to lead the foundation and could provide $1 million for his proposal.The idea of ​​bringing an overseas foundation into the country seemed strange and difficult, Teldoresco found.Returning to Romania a month later, Soros was eager to know why Teldorisco had hesitated to accept the job. Soros: "Build this foundation, do you need help? "Yes," said the former dissident, "I need help, I don't know how to start a foundation. Soros had a very suitable candidate for this job in his mind, Sang Jue.Prarang. "You have to meet her, she's the most original person I've ever met, even if a little neurotic." Once in New York, Soros called Sanjue Prarang. "What do you think of my foundation? "What Foundation?" she asked, confused.She had no idea what he was talking about. "It hasn't started working yet. "Would you like to go to Romania and set it up? Soros seemed to be offering her a job, and Sanjue Prarang became excited.In the end, he made her officially the foundation's first executive manager, and she agreed. In April 190o, Soros met with Teldorisko again, and they reached an agreement, and Teldorisko became the first general manager of the foundation. Now that the leaders of the two most important tasks have been deployed, the establishment of the foundation will be a matter of course. In June 1990, the foundation began to operate.It was named the Open Society Foundations. In September, Sanjue Pralange arrived in Romania to start her new job. Dealing with Soros was not easy for Alin Teldorisko because Soros was extremely impatient.He wanted to spend the money, move to another country, and work on new projects.And Teldorisco was accustomed to conversation. "The first time I met him, he was like a boss," Toldoresli recalls.He used the word "boss" derogatoryly, which means: there is such a person who does not give his staff too much instruction, nor does he give them a chance to ask questions, but requires his staff to operate normally. Over time, however, Teldorisko grew in awe of the investor.He has a theory about Soros: He stands morally higher than most.He believes that the key to understanding Soros is to examine him and himself vertically, rather than comparing him with others horizontally.This idea was taken by Teldoresco from the philosopher Immanuel Kant. It is indeed not easy to build a foundation through bumps and bumps. ——Advertising in newspapers to recruit foundation staff is the first step, as is recruiting the first batch of scholars.When the first batch of 60 scholars recruited by Soros arrived at the Bucharest railway station on January 3, 1991, and headed for the University of Edinburgh, one man cried.She admitted that when she saw the ad in the newspaper, she thought it was a hoax.In the foundation, the only Romanian who has ever been abroad is now in a high position, but she is obviously not.That's why she was crying. Even the staff of the Foundation found it difficult to operate in the "open atmosphere" of the Foundation. Anka Harasson was a tall, charming woman of thirty, October 1900 In June, she began to be the project coordinator of the foundation, and she succeeded Sanjue Prarang as the executive manager in 1993. Her budget that year was as high as 6 million US dollars. Harassen slowly believed that every activity required a central figure to make a decision.Initially working at the Foundation was depressing, but a constant smile belied her initial fears.By 1994, she said: "I have fully embraced the Foundation's ideology and even applied it to my private life. I am in charge of many things. Now I have stepped back. I have to delegate to them. But this mandate Harder to operate than a supervisor." Soros cannot rely on his current behavior to clear his past crimes in Hungary.Even more so in Romania.Romania has a total population of 23.1 million, of which 2.4 million are Hungarians.A billionaire born in Hungary came to Romania to preach capitalism, economic reform and an open society. For some Romanians, this is simply a disguised way to instigate and incite Hungarians in Romania against the government. . Soon after the foundation was established, Soros began to come under attack.Some newspapers accused Soros of trying to "sell" Transylvania, where 1.8 million Hungarians live, to Hungary. The foundation pursues fairness and does not want to treat Hungarian residents in Romania differently, favorably or discriminate against them. This No easy task. In the city of Kraki, a large number of Hungarian residents applied, and the foundation had no choice but to provide them with sponsorship, which made the number of grants seem somewhat disproportionate. Soros ignored these attacks.While the foundation did not get any direction from Soros, the foundation office fired back by being as open as possible to the public.Before the attack, the foundation had never printed a list of scholarship recipients.After being attacked, they start doing this. "It's also a way to show others that we didn't just sell Transylvania to Hungary, we did something good," Anka Harasson said. Even the name adopted by the foundation itself—the Open Society Foundations—raises suspicions that something is being deliberately concealed.After all, the Foundation did not use Soros' name.Therefore, Pralange asked Teldorisko to rename the foundation "Soros Open Society Foundation", hoping that the "Soros" on the signboard would convince people that the foundation was not a fund that used Hungarian money to support the The secret tool of the Hungarians in Romania. Of course, there are no signs here.Standing outside the Soros Foundation building on Bucharest's Grand Plaza Vittoria, one quickly notices that there is no signboard stating the existence of the "Soros Open Society Foundations."Is it possible that the signboard is inside?There is also not a single sign in the hallway on the third floor outside the Foundation offices.This does not appear to be an oversight. Searching for pictures of Soros on the walls is likewise futile.Although the money is here, the people of the place will remember his name, but refreshingly, there is no sign of touting him here.No one spoke of him privately; or, made jokes about him.Still, the influence of George Soros is strong, hanging around like air.His name is mentioned every four or five sentences in people's conversations. "Open society" embodies all of Soros' strategic goals and missions, and the Foundation's personnel know that if what can help the Foundation achieve its goals, then Soros will try his best to do it for the Foundation. Although the entire staff of the Bucharest Foundation is paid by George Soros, no one seems to worry that he may close the place, even if it is due to his whim.Due to the wrong decision on the yen, Soros lost $600 million in the financial market.Even at times like this, people are not worried that he will close the foundation.These losses were the full stakes of the game Soros played. Section 3 Infiltrating Soviet Russia Soros decided in 1987 to create a hospice in the Soviet Union.In March of that year, three months after the Soviet Union officially released dissident figure Andrei Sakharov, Soros began negotiating with the Soviet Union to allow him to establish a foundation in the country. His greatest wish was to promote economic reform in the Soviet Union. That year Soros sought advice from members of the Soviet political refugee corps in the United States.Alex Godouard, a Moscow-born scientist and dissident with a long history in the Soviet Union, first met Soros at his apartment in New York.Godouard and his friends were skeptical of Soros' claims, saying: "We do hold a negative attitude. We think that your efforts will soon be tossed out by the Soviet State Security Council. No matter how smart you are, they will Overwhelms you." But Soros dismissed the notion. In fact, Soros succeeded. In 1990 he established a publicly philanthropic foundation in the USSR) and established similar institutions in Latvia and Lithuania.Through these foundations, Soros provides business and management training and sponsors scholars, learned societies and English language training.The management training program was developed by Soros's old friend Heita Sediman.The program aims to train business management talents in Eastern Europe from Albania to the Soviet Union. In December 1992, Soros announced one of his big sponsorship projects, donating $100 million to fund scientists and scientific research in the former Soviet Union.The cent donation aims to slow the brain drain.By then, 50,000 scientists had given up their research jobs and left the former Soviet Union for lucrative jobs in Libya or Iraq.So the significance of Soros' move can be seen. Since 1987, when Soros founded the Soros Charitable Foundation, which spreads across eastern Europe, his spending has skyrocketed, especially when he founded Central European Universities in Prague and Budapest.With 400 students from 22 countries, Central European University was established to realize Soros' dream.By 1994, Soros's philanthropic empire had grown considerably, spread across 26 countries, for which he had disbursed $500 million over the past two years, and he had organized disbursements of another $500 million. Some cold-eyed onlookers believe that Soros's sole purpose in philanthropy is to obtain better information for prudent investment.One skeptic noted that Soros hosted a reception for his foundation that included cabinet ministers from the country where the foundation is based.Lunazaska, still says: "Soros through his foundation has a better understanding of how the world economy works. When he starts throwing money through his foundation. He's on his way." Strike around in the fourth quarter The raid on the pound in 1992 attracted Soros to the news media, who wanted to know how he invested.He had no intention of leaking secrets, so he used a strategy: let reporters spend time with him in Eastern Europe in order to distract the media.As a result, journalists spend a lot of time on his aid projects and very little on understanding how he invests. A British TV report on December 3, 1992 seemed to explain the process of Soros' assistance in detail, because the TV crew was talking with Soros on the plane to Prague about a small investment he was making. "Eighty to ninety percent of my energy is spent on investment projects. I keep in touch with my office every day, but in fact I don't make any decisions. There are dedicated people doing this work... I think making money is more important than investing in it." Easy to spend money. Speaking of this, George Soros couldn't help grinning. The plane landed at Prague Airport.Soros got off the plane, and a group of Czech TV reporters swarmed up.A reporter asked Soros what type of capitalist he was. "I don't think I'm a businessman, I invest in other people's businesses, so I'm a real critic, in a way you could call me the highest paid critic in the world." The camera captured It made Soros laugh out loud. When Soros walked around Prague, inspecting his charitable foundation and Central European University, he expressed satisfaction. "我已有了我所需要的钱，因而我想促进我的慈善活动。我正在考虑尽快把2．5亿美元筹划好。" 2．5亿美元？ 几乎没有人能象索罗斯那样不假思索地给出这么多钱。 中欧大学的开学典礼出现在了电视屏幕上。迈卡伟·哈韦尔这个以前的持不同政见者而今已是总统，索罗斯就站在他旁边，手斜插在口袋里，用左手打手势致意。 "我五年来每年交付500万美元，总共是2500万美元，给这所大学。我们现在的投入水平将远远超出这个数字。" 听众中懂英语的学生立即发出热烈而持久的掌声。 索罗斯想避免因自己的援助项目而成为时尚人物，虽然他需要理解与尊重，但他一直坚持不把他的照片挂在他所赞助的学校中。对运用他自己的基金会去传播他的思想这套作法他也不十分感兴趣。即使在布达佩斯的中欧大学图书馆（该馆以藏书丰富著称），也没有一本索罗斯的书，学院本身名叫中欧大学院而不称为索罗斯大学，"我不愿死后留名，"他曾大声说过，"我只想影响今日之事。" 就自身而言，赞助比赚钱幸福得多，他的生命有一种更为崇高的目的。如果东欧和前苏联的许多人把他看成一个道德崇高的人或圣诞老人，这倒挺适合于他。当评论家们对他赞不绝口时，索罗斯拂袖而去，就当他们是一群在他身边嗡嗡地飞来飞去的无害的苍蝇一样，他是受一种使命感驱使的人，希望成为重要人物，成为行动十分随意、能够掌握自身命运的人，对于他的慈舍基地他曾欣慰他说过："这使我更深刻地理解了什么是满足，这种满足感不是金钱所能带来的广 索罗斯帝国的扩展，其速度非常之快，范围非常之广，索罗斯似乎感到他随时应在任何地方出现。他很难固守一个计划。头脑中一个念头可能使他在最后一分钟改变计划，这使原来为他准备飞行的人恼怒不已。1992年底，他原定从阿尔已尼亚的地拉那飞往维也纳，但半他上了飞机后，他突然指着操纵杆说"飞往伦敦"。 飞行员做了一个鬼脸，笑了笑，想起为飞往维也纳他已作了两小时准备。 "索罗斯先生，"飞行员说，"你是我们所遇到的最富有挑战性的人物。"对此索罗斯笑了笑。 不断地从一个项目进到另一个项目，索罗斯似乎正忙着弥补失去的时光。一些零零碎碎的项目，不管多么重要，都不能像大项目一样吸住他的注意力。他一心想留下印象，而且是马上，"他总想开始薪的项目，"迈克罗丝·韦萨利解释道，"如果某事已人轨运转，他对此并元多大兴趣，他的决定并非总是最好的选择，但他能够纠正自己，因为如果他看到某事不利时，他就承认它。 泰勃·韦木在匈牙利与索罗斯一直有业务上的联系，泰勃追寻索罗斯的援助动因直至索罗斯"证券交易所的大脑"……在谈一句话的时候，他会改变主意。这似乎是一颗宜于证券交易的心，上午9时半你买一些棉纺工业，10分钟后你又卖出所有一切，同时买进一些完全不同的东西，如果我们长时间地谈论工作效果不明显，他总有点不耐烦。 至1994年春天为止，索罗斯已在西部为他的援助项目赚了一大笔贷款，被新闻周刊戏称为"元帅计划"。一般而言，正取得好成绩。但索罗斯明白在东欧及前苏联真正开放之前他仍有许多事情要做。 尽管索罗斯与基金会的全体人员公开宣称，赞成西欧政府及非官方公司将最终取代索罗斯基地的种种努力，事情真相却是由其他公司完成他已有的事业，索罗斯对此内心不满。他很少考虑政府援助，认为"计划经济的最后一个实例亦不过如此而已，因为这种帮助只会有益于赠与者而不利于受与者。"他在斯特拉斯堡对一位欧洲议会的官员说："实际上你不能干任何事，你元力改变东欧。 索罗斯已经有了自己的优势，即成为一条孤寂的狼，能够自作主张，而不用把他的主张提交给别人去求得赞同。杰斐热。萨奇是哈佛大学经济学教授，曾任波兰和俄国政府经济改革顾问，他说："乔治·索罗斯……操作方式十分灵活，不存在在无限危机之中现金的反复折腾，因而一小笔钱用处大增，可支付任何人的飞行费。旅行费，世界银行可能要花两年使时间才能使事情运转，而乔治一夜之间就可给飞机票。" 由于极为慷慨的赠金，索罗斯的大名已传遍了全东欧和全苏联。一家商业周报载文称他为"从莱茵河到乌拉尔山脉之间最具影响的公民。" 但尽管声誉鹊起，到20世纪90年代初索罗斯因其援助计划进展缓馒而略显低沉。起初，他希望点燃一根火柴以激起一场革命，"我感到我汲取的泉水的深度比我实际预备的要深一些，正因为如此，泉已趋干涸，人也十分疲惫。"