George Soros Image by Getty Images

George Soros has dedicated his life and wealth to promoting liberal democracy, a cause, he told New York Times Magazine, he fears he is losing.

Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist around whom swirl countless conspiracy theories, shared the threats to his vision, including the rise of Donald Trump and the growing strength of right-wing populist parties in Western Europe. Under Vladimir Putin (who made a snide comment about Soros at a recent joint press conference with Trump in Helsinki), Russia has reverted to autocracy, and Poland and Hungary are moving in the same direction.

A major donor to Democratic candidates and progressive groups, he is watching nationalism grow, barriers erected. During his financial career, he had become a “strange sort of expat anticommunist revolutionary,” the magazine wrote.

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He admitted that he faces the possibility that his life goal, helping to create a world that embraces ideas like government accountability and ethnic tolerance, will end in failure.

“I’m standing for principles whether I win or lose,” Soros said. But, “unfortunately, I’m losing too much in too many places right now.”

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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