Towards the end of the Cold War era, in a 1984 interview, a Soviet defector and former KGB informant named Yuri Bezmenov outlined a process by which a society might be undermined from within.  The essential portion of this interview may be viewed here, while the transcript may be found here.  The video is 13 minutes well spent.  It is interesting to note how closely some current events coincide with phases of Bezmenov’s model.

He stated that the process, which he referred to as ideological subversion, is composed of four stages: Demoralization (AKA Indoctrination), Destabilization, Crisis, and Normalization.  Bezmenov’s model resembles the Cloward-Piven strategy, which is itself worthy of a separate article.

Demoralization.  In the first stage, people are fed a constant stream of dis- and misinformation, which serves to confuse and indoctrinate them to the point where they can no longer tell fact from fiction.  Bezmenov claimed that the process takes 15–20 years — the time it takes to educate a single generation.  The goal of this stage is to use the educational institutions and the media to destroy the morals and values of a society and change people’s perception of reality.

I edited the Bezmenov transcript slightly for clarity. He stated,

You cannot change their mind even if you expose them to authentic information.  Even if you prove that white is white and black is black, you still cannot change the basic perception. ... Exposure to true information does not matter anymore.  A person who was demoralized is unable to assess true information.  The facts tell nothing to him. ... Even if I shower him with information with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures — even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him concentration camps, he will refuse to believe it. ... Basically, America is stuck with demoralization, and even if you start educating a new generation of Americans, it will still take you 15 to 20 years to turn the tide of ideological perception of reality back to patriotism.

It could be argued that this process has been occurring in the U.S. for over 50 years.  Just consider the sheer number and magnitude of lies that the left has been feeding us, especially lately.  For example, under Obamacare, if you like your doctor and health care plan, you can keep them.  Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation.  Donald Trump is a Russian patsy, and he called Nazis “very fine people.”  J6 was an insurrection worse than the Civil War, pResident (not a typo) Biden was sharp as a tack.  COVID came from a wet market in Wuhan.

Anyone who spends much time on social media or speaking with leftists will inevitably encounter people who still believe some or all of these fabrications.  And it’s ongoing.  Public schools are teaching that our Founding Fathers were racists, that capitalism is inherently evil, that people can change their sex at will, and more.

Destabilization.  The targeted nation’s economy, military, foreign and domestic policies, and relations are sabotaged.  Bezmenov claims that this stage takes 2–5 years.  In this stage, those who criticize the existing order are seen as allies, whereas those who defend it are considered adversaries.  Sound familiar?  Someone who stabs a high school student to death acquires thousands of dollars from donations while the victim’s family is ignored.  

A sizable percentage of Americans consider their political opposition a “threat to the nation’s well-being,” and trust in institutions such as our courts and elections is falling.  Public perceptions of our military and local law enforcement seem to fall along party lines.  Some may cite the George Floyd riots as an example of destabilization, but this unrest was caused by domestic racial quarrels, not foreign interference.  Some Republicans may still question the results of the 2020 election, but this too may reflect domestic dynamics rather than foreign manipulation.  

Crisis.  Bezmenov’s third stage implodes the system.  An example might be allowing ten million illegal aliens to swarm across our borders and overwhelm our economy, or an energy shortage or a pandemic that disrupts the supply chain.  One or more of these events might conceivably lead to widespread panic or economic or political collapse.  Bezmenov suggested that such an event might last as long as six weeks.

Some have pointed to the COVID lockdowns, the J6 Capitol riot, and George Floyd as attempts to exploit a catastrophe for power.  But these events were too ephemeral to result in a nationwide revolution, although the COVID lockdowns produced serious unrest in Canada.  Other issues include election disputes, Supreme Court rulings such as the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and instances of “lawfare” against Trump, but none of these seems likely to result in a transformative crisis.

Normalization.  Bezmenov described the fourth and final stage as one in which the government implements socialism to “make everything better.”  After the crisis, the populace accepts this new ideology as the status quo.  To date, there has been no evidence of a Marxist ideology taking widespread hold in the U.S., although Bernie Sanders may wish it otherwise.

In summation, we have seen some remarkable shifts in our culture.  Some progressive policies have been and are being implemented, such as DIE initiatives, gender-neutral language, surveillance by our government and other agents, COVID strictures, and environmental mandates, but these are not widespread or universally accepted.

These trends are more easily explained by internal dynamics rather than outside subversion.  Although our external adversaries may exploit these divisions, it is unlikely that they are orchestrating a formal takeover.  This author is more concerned with those inside our own gates who are fomenting injustice and unrest.

We might consider President Lincoln’s words:

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.

Image: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).