Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
Never let it be said we're not listening. In response to James's Assignment Desk request, our loyal member Paules offered this suggestion:
Does anyone besides me know who Yuri (Uri) Bezmenov is? His explanation from the perspective of an ex-KGB operative and defector explains the culture war in America and our current political crisis. His interviews are available on Youtube. You will be as fascinated as you are horrified.
An excellent assignment. I know of Bezmenov because my friend and colleague Okan (of Murky in Turkey fame) is obsessed with him. If you meet Okan at a bar, within five minutes he'll be grabbing your lapels and gibbering: "Bezmenov explained it all! It's all there! It's all spelled out! You've got to watch this!"
Bezmenov was a KGB defector who in 1984 gave an interview to G. Edward Griffin, a prominent member of the John Birch Society, in which he discussed the "ideological subversion" methods used by the KGB.
Ideological subversion is the process, which is legitimate, overt, and open; you can see it with your own eyes. All you have to do, all American mass media has to do, is to unplug their bananas from their ears, open up their eyes, and they can see it. There is no mystery. [It has] nothing to do with espionage. I know that espionage intelligence-gathering looks more romantic. It sells more deodorants through the advertising, probably. That’s why your Hollywood producers are so crazy about James Bond-type of thrillers.
But in reality, the main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. According to my opinion and [the] opinion of many defectors of my caliber, only about 15% of time, money, and manpower [are] spent on espionage as such. The other 85% is a slow process, which we call either ‘ideological subversion,’ or ‘active measures’—in the language of the KGB—or ‘psychological warfare.’ What it basically means is, to change the perception of reality, of every American, to such an extent that despite of the abundance of information, no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interests of defending themselves, their families, their community and their country.
It’s a great brainwashing process, which goes very slow[ly] and is divided [into] four basic stages. The first one [is] demoralization; it takes from 15-20 years to demoralize a nation. Why that many years? Because this is the minimum number of years which [is required] to educate one generation of students in the country of your enemy, exposed to the ideology of the enemy. In other words, Marxist-Leninist ideology is being pumped into the soft heads of at least three generations of American students, without being challenged, or counter-balanced by the basic values of Americanism (American patriotism).
The result? The result you can see. Most of the people who graduated in the sixties (drop-outs or half-baked intellectuals) are now occupying the positions of power in the government, civil service, business, mass media, [and the] educational system. You are stuck with them. You cannot get rid of them. They are contaminated; they are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain pattern. You cannot change their mind[s], 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 and the logic of behavior. In other words, these people... the process of demoralization is complete and irreversible. To [rid] society of these people, you need another twenty or fifteen years to educate a new generation of patriotically-minded and common sense people, who would be acting in favor and in the interests of United States society.
Here's an excerpt from that video; and here's the whole thing:
Does Bezmenov explain some of the trends in thought, particularly in American universities, that we've seen in the United States in the past two generations? Does he explain what's happening now? Not entirely, certainly not. But Soviet ideological subversion was, we now know, a reality, not a right-wing fantasy, and I certainly do think it's reasonable to surmise that it had a profound effect--another reason that a proper historical reckoning with the Cold War is so urgently needed. (Get back to work, Peter. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.)
Thanks for reminding me, Paules.
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May '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
Reminds me of the story that when Geraldine Ferraro visited the Soviet Union she was shocked that you "really" had to be careful what you said.
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I guess Gramschi was right. Whoever controls the narrative, controls everything.
Jul '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
I watched the entire 9 parts on YouTube a few weeks ago. It was a little like reading Ayn Rand. You are finding out what has been happening the last few years while you weren't watching. I haven't looked up the site, but I am told that the entire interview is available on Google Videos as one unit, not broken up.
Jun '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
Thank you, Claire, for following up on this. You did an excellent job pulling the pith of Bezmenov's exegesis from the videos and presenting it in text. Well done!
In order to fight the current war against our ideological enemies, it's important to understand that the battle is one part political and another part cultural. The latter informs the former. If Bezmenov's antidote is correct, we stand today in the opening stages of a generational conflict to take back the country. And I think Bezmenov's comments are in certain ways tied to the Codevilla essay. We must know the enemy before we can fight him.
May '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
A little paranoid guys (just in case the John Birch society wasn't enough of a clue). The Soviets were remarkably inefficient and ineffective at everything else but this they had down to a precision science? I have yet to encounter the government organization that is so efficient. Any brainwashing takes place in the general rough and tumble of everyday debate and misunderstanding. Truth is not clear and obvious and then upended through sinister subversion. It's complicated and messy and arrived at through sifting and sorting and studying and shouting. At the end of the day its just about ideas fighting for air in the marketplace. Frankly I'm far more concerned about the influence of Google.
Aug '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
"all American mass media has to do, is to unplug their bananas from their ears"
Wonderful image.
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
Paranoid, no. You needn't believe they had this down to a "precision science" to suspect they were quite successful. It's not even suspicion anymore; it's well-documented; see, e.g., recent archival work on Soviet soft penetration.
May '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
Claire -- I'm not suggesting for a moment that they were not trying to do all of those things. I'm just skeptical as to how influential their efforts actually were.
Jul '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
The Soviets simply proved what had already been proven, no one ever lost any money underestimating the intelligence of the average American and their addiction to the mass media.
May '10
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
The Soviets actually were pretty good at these things, which go back at least to the 1930s, which is why I tend to lend Bezmenov some credence (though generally intelligence agents—which is to say professional liars—are problematic sources under even good circumstances). Even if his specific schema, and so forth, aren't true (and I—nor anyone outside a limited circle of Chekists—can't know if they are), the broad thrust of it is of a piece with general Soviet “active measures” against America, which—pace the Birchers—weren’t so much about infiltrating one of their agents into the presidency (though they almost lucked into Fellow Traveller and big-time kook Henry Wallace succeeding FDR) as generally influencing the tone of American discourse.
Outstripp is basically right (although Gramsci's theorizing was following Münzenberg's doing by decades): it's the narrative. And the Soviets knew very early on that the narrative is produced by a very small number of people who were quite susceptible to various emotional/intellectual appeals.
Remember, Lenin, Radek, etc., were all camped out in Geneva…a bunch of exiled journalists. Journalists know to “print the legend”…
Re: Yuri Bezmenov and Demoralization in America
Rewatching Liberty Valance not long ago, I was astounded by how blatant a turnaround bookends the film. At the outset, the press man demands that his right to the truth be satisfied...and, at the end, he demands the safe for his right to the falsehood.