A dead KGB expert warned us about the likes of AOC

By Lt. Col. James Zumwalt

Although decades apart when it occurred, Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., and Yuri Bezmenov came to prominence in America at about the same age. AOC was 29 when she took office in 2018; KGB propagandist Bezmenov was 31 when he defected to the West in 1970.

The Soviet defector passed away in 1993, having devoted the second half of his life to warning the West about the song of the socialist/communist/welfare state, a tune sung by sirens – like those in Greek mythology – to lure the unwary to their destruction with false promises. It is a serenade we now hear from AOC and like-minded progressives, condemning capitalism as they ignore the harsh realities of the Soviet Union’s “equality” nightmare Bezmenov and millions of his fellow countrymen were subjected to before collapsing.

In 1984, Bezmenov published his book “Love Letters to America” in which he explained how Soviet leaders were working to destroy America, giving great details in a 1985 interview. He suggested the process was already heavily embedded within America’s social fabric with most citizens unaware public opinion was being manipulated.

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The process involved planting propaganda about a Soviet socialist Shangri-La, successfully convincing naive Americans who became determined to duplicate it in America. They then became the driving force in eroding respect for the sacred ideals America cherished. Bezmenov forewarned that values such as individual rights, free enterprise, law and order, national sovereignty and limited government were all under assault by the process of “ideological subversion.”

Looking back on Bezmenov’s interview, we now know his timing was a bit off, for as we try to understand what is going on in America today, we cannot help but think the process exists.

What Bezmenov shared is a frightening reality today, noting ideological subversion sought to:

… change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite 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 and it’s divided in four basic stages.

The first one being “demoralization.” It takes from 15 to 20 years to demoralize a nation. Why that many years? Because this is the minimum number of years that requires to educate one generation of students in the country of your enemy exposed to the ideology of the enemy.

In other words, Marxism Leninism ideology is being pumped into the soft heads of at least three generations of American students without being challenged or counterbalanced by the basic values of Americanism – American patriotism. The result, you can see. Most of the people who graduated in the ’60s, dropouts or half-baked intellectuals, are now occupying the positions of power in the government civil service, business, mass media, educational system.

You are stuck with them. You cannot get rid of them. They are contaminated. They are programmed to think and act to certain stimuli in a certain pattern. You cannot change their minds even if you expose them to authentic information. Even if you prove white is white and black is black, you still cannot change the basic perception and the logic of behavior. In other words, [for] these people – the process of demoralization is complete and irreversible. To rid society of these people you have, you need another 20 or 15 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.

Bezmenov pointed out, ironically, these same activists would be among the first targeted for extermination once the regime they promote is in power. Why? Because they would also be among the first to then realize equality and social justice were unachievable in such a system and, therefore, would resort to revolution again to right their wrongs adding, “these people will simply be quashed like cockroaches.”

Continuing with his explanation, “Most of it (the demoralization) is done by Americans to Americans. … 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 … he will refuse to believe it.”

Bezmenov says the tragedy of the demoralization phase is that activists will not understand until it is too late that what they have advocated for and were promised will never be achieved. And that knowledge comes too late to start educating a new generation about the lost American ideals as “it will still take you 15 to 20 years to turn the tide of ideological perception of reality back to normalcy and patriotism.”

Noting the second stage is “destablization,” Bezmenov explained, “it only takes from two to five years, to destabilize a nation. What matters is essentials – economy, foreign relations, defense systems. And you can see quite clearly in some areas, in such sensitive areas as defense and economy, the influence of Marxist Leninist ideas in the United States is absolutely fantastic.”

Stage three is “crisis,” which “may take only up to six weeks to bring a country to the verge of crisis,” resulting in “a violent change of power, structure and economy.”

Stage four is “normalization,” which may last indefinitely. The term is cynical, originating after Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, “normalizing” the situation there.

Asked what the solution is for avoiding ideological subversion, Bezmenov emphasized “a strong national effort to educate people in the spirit of real patriotism” as well as “to explain the real danger of socialist, communist … welfare state, big brother government. If people will fail to grasp the impending danger of that development, nothing ever can help the United States.”

Bezmenov ended by warning that unless America wakes up, “you will have nowhere to defect to. … This is it. This is the last country of freedom and possibility.”

Meanwhile, embracing the old Soviet game plan, Russia has poured $182 million into foreign influence operations and propaganda in the U.S. since 2016.

It is ironic a young man who, having lived under communism, spurned the socialist ideology at great risk to his life and came to America – yet half a century later a young woman in Congress, seeking to live under such a socialist ideology, spurns capitalism at great risk to our lives.

We would do well to heed Bezmenov’s warning. It would help us focus on the real threat to our Republic, recognizing that it emanates from within – in the form of a Democratic leadership of sirens enticing us closer and closer to the rocky shoals of destruction.

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Lt. Col. James Zumwalt

Lt. Col. James G. Zumwalt is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam war, the U.S. invasion of Panama and the first Gulf war. He is the author of three books on the Vietnam war, North Korea and Iran as well as hundreds of op-eds. Read more of Lt. Col. James Zumwalt's articles here.


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