The legendary financier-and founder of the Open Society Institute-offers crucial insight into the real meaning of freedom, and how societies can best promote it

After reflecting on his support of a losing Democrat for president, George Soros steps back to revisit his views on why George Bush's policies around the world fall short in the arenas most important to Soros: democracy, human rights and open society. As a survivor of the Holocaust and a life-long proponent of free expression, Soros understands the meaning of freedom. And yet his differences with George Bush, another proponent of freedom, are profound.

In this powerful essay Soros spells out his views and how they differ from the president's. He reflects on why the Democrats may have lost the high ground on these values issues and how they might reclaim it. As he has in his recent books, On Globalization and The Bubble of American Supremacy, Soros uses facts, anecdotes, personal experience and philosophy to illuminate a major topic in a way that both enlightens and inspires.

许多人都梦想使世界变得更美好，但是和大多数人相比，索罗斯说自己是幸运的，因为他能比他们更好地实现这个梦想。作为对世界金融市场具有重要影响力的人物，索罗斯试图通过自己的力量改变世界。

索罗斯被认为是“打垮英格兰银行的人”，也被指责为“1997年亚洲金融危机的始作俑者”。他是一个攫取巨额财富的金融大鳄，也是一个声名卓著的慈善家和社会活动家。自1979年以来，索罗斯成了一名活跃的慈善家，开始帮助黑人学生进入种族隔离下南非的开普敦大学就读。他成立了一个遍布全球50多个国家的慈善网络组织，致力于倡导民主和开放社会的价值观。该基金组织网络每年的支出约为4.5亿美元。