There was a time in American
politics when accusations about the intervention in American politics by the,
near mythical, George Soros was largely only seen as an unfounded conspiracy theory
which tended to result in my tuning out of the argument entirely, as that
subject tended to serve as a marker implying we were no longer engaged in a
political discussion/argument, so much as wandering the labyrinth of the mind
to see where it takes us.
I would have thought rumors of this
billionaire’s involvement in the “leftist” agenda would have died down by now, disappeared
into the white noise of so many internet memes who have come and gone, only to
fondly resurface now and again with a quaint and modern twist. There was a time
when I felt like conspiracy theories involving Soros would become so trite and banal
as to resurface one day in the form of a fond memory of that time people
actually believed a rogue billionaire was determined to squander his fortune on
American politics so as to demolish the very capitalist foundation that shipped
so many truckloads of cash directly into his New York home that he found himself
forced to spend every red cent he earned to destroy capitalism just to keep
himself from drowning in his own wealth, a terrible fate, I am sure!
Sadly, this particular meme hasn’t
resurfaced in any entertaining or refreshing capacity, instead it has found its
way back into our lives in the form of leaders in the Republican party decrying
the intervention of Soros as a driving factor in American politics as one of
the driving forces of our current political climate, particularly in relation
to those who express an especially strong dislike for Trump and his allies.
Chuck Grassley, and Donald Trump have both publicly used Soros as a talking
point, suggesting that opposition to them might be driven and funded by this
man, and his immense fortune, and while it might be true that their political opponents receive funding from this man (a practice I am all in favor of ending), they've taken it a step further by suggesting that acts of genuine, heartfelt protest against their despicable behavior, might actually be motivated by the very force that drives people like this to get out of bed in the morning.
It would be easy enough to look at
this as a distraction technique, an attempt by those in power to discredit
their opposition by suggesting they are paid actors simply doing what a wealthy
scapegoat tells them to, but I don’t actually believe these people are that
clever, I think these individuals are so wealthy, so far removed, so completely
out of touch with the rest of humanity, and their own idealistic pursuit of
wealth as an ends unto itself, that they cannot believe that a human being
might actually uphold the values they claim to represent without receiving financial
compensation. I believe that the reason that so many people can buy into the
idea that George Soros is controlling the left that hates everything that he
stands for, is because they have given themselves over so completely to their
greed, that they can no longer imagine the idea that a human might do anything
without getting paid to do it, so obviously, the second someone presents them
with a name, they’re happy to name him as their boogey man, because what else
could be driving so many people to act in this manner?
