As a child in Budapest George Soros learned not only Hungarian but also Esperanto. Ever since he has been a true citizen of the world. But whereas it was naïve to believe that an artificial, synthetic world language would ever really take root, his career as a financial speculator, entrepreneur and philanthropist reveals him as an idealist who is the opposite of naïve. One of the reasons why he is so enormously successful is that he was guided by the philosophy of Karl Popper, the author of Open Society.
Last week Geoge Soros spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos about the possibility of having an open society on a global basis.
This is a part of his speech.
There is a strong epistemological argument, elaborated by Karl Popper, in favor of the open society: our understanding is inherently imperfect; the ultimate truth, the perfect design for society, is beyond our reach. We must therefore content ourselves with the next best thing – a form of social organization that falls short of perfection but holds itself open to improvement. That is the concept of the open society: a society open to improvement. The more conditions are changing – and a global economy fosters change – the more important the concept becomes.
But the idea of the open society is not widely accepted. On the contrary: the epistemological argument has not even been properly considered, and the idea of a global open society is often explicitly rejected. There are those, for instance, who argue that values are different in Asia. Of course they are different. The global society is characterized by diversity. But fallibility is a universal human condition; once we acknowledge it, we have found a common ground for the open society, which celebrates this diversity.
Recognition of our fallibility is necessary but not sufficient to establish the concept of the open society. We must combine it with some degree of altruism, some concern for our fellow human beings based on the principle of reciprocity.
Eric Koch’s new book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
You wrote: “… it was naïve to believe that an artificial, synthetic world language would ever really take root …” but I have to disagree. Esperanto was brought to life and continues to gain new speakers thanks to the efforts of men and women of goodwill interested in the wider world beyond their homeland.
Indeed, Esperanto has much to offer in the creation of an “open society on a global basis”.
Take a look at http://www.lernu.net
What a self important windbag. From the fourth word in the quotation he lost me. What is saying? Davos is everything that is wrong with the world.
Envy, envy. You deplore Davos because you were not invited. You deplore Soros because you are not Hungarian. An Open Society is Davos for Everybody, including you, even if you are not Hungarian.
Ah, Esperanto! Have not heard much about it lately but it was a real movement in the 1930s and there were Esperanto clubs all over Central Europe.
The idea was that a common language would increase understanding among peoples. Very idealistic.
I can just see the signs at Canadian customs: English, French, Esperanto!
Yes – in MITROPA trains in the twenties and early thirties all signs were in two or three languages PLUS Esperanto.
LAT WORLD-WIDE APPLICATION. I BELIEVE NOW IT IS UNFORTUNATELY A DEAD LANGUAGE. But Soros is not a windbag; he is very rich and a philanthropist. Maybe the idea of an open society is actually good. Esperanto started in Poland, I believe, had a minor following in the 30s. After WWII it disappeared.
The Ukraine has always been anti-Russian. Therefore it surprises me that Yulia Timoshenko is not doing better. Croatia was super-brutal in WWII. But many of the elite of Yugoslavia were Croatians, like Tito. Here in San Pedro there were mostly Croatians, involved in fishing and seafood trading. In New Orleans there was a Croatian settlement too, for the same reason. They are Roman-Catholic and use the Latin alphabet. They are Westerners and belong in the European Union. They are Slavic Italians.