A reflection on a book I read this week called Love Letter To America. The author, Yuri Bezmenov, was a KGB agent who defected from the Soviet Union in 1970 to Canada, then the United States of America. He wrote under the pseudonym “Tomas Schuman.” Yuri outlines the Soviet Union’s “ideological subversion” tactics to demoralize the United States and other nations. [Un]shockingly, these “tactics” mirror events and trends I have noticed recently; I will attempt to point out how they have been used and any potential solutions. Please keep an open mind when reading this; it may come as a shock for some or provide clarity for the unusual discrepancies in our “modern” lives.
For perspective, Yuri wrote this during the peak of the Cold War. War is fought for “the final struggle for the minds and hearts of the people.” As we continue our Ukrainian proxy war with Russia and approach a “Cold War 2.0” with China, the driving force is ideological—liberal democracies or technocratic totalitarianism. Yuri writes, “[ideology is] something you cannot eat, wear, or store for a ‘rainy day’”
Ideological subversion is “the process of changing the perception of reality in the minds of millions of people all over the world.” KGB’s Active Measures is a well-known method for propaganda, psychological warfare, ideological aggression, etc. The aim is to “change your perception of reality to such an extent that even despite an abundance of information and evidence about the danger of Communism, you are unable to come to sensible conclusions in your own interests and in the interests of your nation.” This sounds shockingly familiar. Look at the Covid lockdowns, where we knew that lockdowns were not effective, yet we continued them for months and months. Look at the vaccine mandates, where the narrative that a vaccine would be the savior for all; if only we had a fifth booster, Covid would be gone! Right Moderna? Right Pfizer? Who was making money off those extortionate Covid tests anyway? And now Europe, their dreams of a carbon-neutral society came crashing down when they had turned off all their nuclear power plants and the [cheap] Russian gas stopped flowing. Despite information and evidence about the danger of energy dependencies, Europe could not come to sensible conclusions in the interest of their nations—and are now paying the price.
Returning to Yuri’s book, here is a tragic story of a city in South Vietnam and the effects of the KGB.
“Let me give you an example of how the KGB uses the information it collects. One day in 1968, I was routinely scanning through the backlog of USA information Service releases and classified documentation… I read that the South Vietnamese city of Hue had been captured by the Hanoi Communists. When it was re-captured by the US Army and allied forces, only two days, the CIA discovered to their horror, that several thousand Vietnamese—teachers, priests, Buddhists, businessmen, and educated citizens—everyone who was “pro-American” had been rounded up by the invaders and IN ONE NIGHT, taken out of the city limits and executed collectively. Some were shot. Others, with their hands tied by electric wire, were found with their skulls crushed in by shovels and iron bars. ‘How could they possibly have located all of these people within only a few hours in a large city?’—the Americans wondered. Long before the invasion, there was an extensive network of Communist informers working under the guidance of the Soviet Embassy in Hanoi—that is, under the KGB. The communists filed every bit of information: addresses, personal habits, political affiliations, expressed ideas, unexpressed thoughts revealed in informal and private conservations, even the names and addresses of relatives, friends, even lovers, and mistresses of the future victims of ‘liberation.’ After reading the news release, I was sick, physically, with the realization that the department I was working for in New Delhi was engaged in the same activity that had been used in the City of Hue. I realized fully that I was a part of a heinous crime against our host country. Adding to my nausea, I discovered that some of our files contained data of a personal nature, intimate information such as “sexual preferences,” e.g., homosexuals, of certain Indian VIPs—even radicals and Communists openly sympathetic to Soviet policies. Were they also listed for execution if a Soviet-backed revolution in India should occur?”
Even in 1968, with no digital infrastructure, it was possible to make detailed profiles of citizens. Imagine what governments, with today’s technological capabilities, can do. What about the future? Thus, the driving force of the next war is ideological—liberal democracies or technocratic totalitarianism. Privacy is a fundamental human right. Looking at consumer products, companies will have to decide to prioritize privacy and security or fall into dystopian traps; this is an area where I believe Apple has done a remarkable job. Apple states, “We design Apple products to protect your privacy and give you control over your information. It’s not always easy. But that’s the kind of innovation we believe in.” Google and Meta and the rest will have to decide their fate.
On another note, I am skeptical and afraid that many Americans cannot purchase property. A dystopian prophecy states, “You will own nothing.” Taking away [the means] of owning private land threatens American nationhood. “Alienation of people from privately-owned land is one of the particularly important methods of demoralization.” Private property is the foundation for the flourishing of capitalism. James Madison, at the Address at the Virginia Convention, said, “the rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects for the protection of which government was instituted.” Yes, inequality will inevitably result from the necessary protection of private property, but it also incentivizes entrepreneurs and businesses to take risks and grow, lifting the standard of living for all. But if you own nothing and only rent, what loyalty do you have to your fellow citizens, your nation, and for the freedoms it grants you? There is a saying that a farmer will fight an invader until the last bullet on his land. Yuri writes, “a poor farmer often is a greater patriot than an affluent dweller of a large congested American city.” Ideological subversion targets this, and if “you own nothing,” the core of America and its principles begin to crumble, creating an ever-growing slippery slope.
An unstable nation is ripe for radicalism and leads to revolutions. Although there is debate on the origins of the following document, it is titled “Rules of Revolution.”
Corrupt the young, get them interested in sex, take them away from religion. Make them superficial and enfeebled.
Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial issues of no importance. (Non-issues)
Destroy people’s faith in their national leaders by holding the latter up for contempt, ridicule, and disgrace.
Always preach democracy but seize power as fast and as ruthlessly as possible.
By encouraging government extravagances, destroying its credit, producing years of inflation with rising prices and discontent.
Incite unnecessary strikes in vital industries, encourage civil disorder, and foster a lenient and soft attitude on the part of the government towards such disorders.
Cause breakdown of the old moral virtues: honesty, sobriety, self-restraint, faith in the pledged word.
Interpret those “rules” as you wish, but they were the same “theories and practices” used by the Russian KGB in their goal of ideological subversion.
Yuri writes about the dangers of legislating equality and making it the foundation of the socioeconomic and political system. We are all born unequally; some are tall, short, fat, or thin. But if everyone is “equal” by law… “There will be some who get more for giving less and take advantage of those, who are even ‘less equal,’ say, in the art of taking. And to avoid the squabble for ‘equal redistribution,’ you will have to introduce a third force—the State. Why? Because people were never equal, are not equal, and if God wanted us to be equal, He would probably have made us equal. No. He provided a difference.” For racial inequalities, Yuri writes, “The present-day ‘solution’ to racial inequality is borrowed from Communist mythology: equality of all racial and ethnic groups legislated by the government and enforced by state bureaucracies. We know perfectly well that neither races nor individuals are equal in every respect. We know that every nation and race has a peculiar character, abilities, traditions, mentality, and ability to learn, and its individual pace of development. By mimicking the Soviet ‘national policy’ of equality, America simply erases the distinct racial characteristics that have made this country great.” He adds, “There is not a single Communist country where racial groups are ‘equal’ and enjoy as much freedom to develop themselves culturally and economically as in America. There are not too many ‘Capitalist’ countries where ethnic minorities have it as good as in the USA. I have been to many countries of the world, and I can state to you, my dear Americans, that your society is the least discriminatory. The Communist’ solution for racial problems is final: they simply murder those who are different and stubbornly insist on remaining different.”
The beauty of America, and our founding fathers, is that America is “based on the principles of equal opportunities for unequal and very much different and diverse individuals to develop their abilities and to connect in mutually beneficial cooperation.” I think we often forget this tenet of America; our differences make us great—Vive la différence! Tolerance to difference is the heart of American success and longevity. This also applies to free speech, where social media companies have been removing individuals from their platforms and restricting posts for “disinformation.” The only way a liberal democracy can prosper is if there is MORE free speech, not less of it. The future is decentralized media, where independent writers create niche audiences and grow, versus media conglomerates who attempt to shape their “public perception.” (Similar to consumer brand marketing, social media influencers and their audiences have the advantage over established brands. Ex: Kim Kardashian’s Private Equity venture SKKY Partners, MrBeast Burger, OSV, etc.)
America is not perfect and will never be perfect. America is an idea, an ideal to be realized, a promise to be kept. Maybe it is even the “end of history,” as freedom is the direction and final purpose of history. I remain optimistic about the future. Our nation will and must unite to reconcile our differences and make America a beacon of hope for the world again. Thank you for reading, and as always, I am lost in the right direction.
"Looking at consumer products, companies will have to decide to prioritize privacy and security or fall into dystopian traps; this is an area where I believe Apple has done a remarkable job. Apple states, “We design Apple products to protect your privacy and give you control over your information. It’s not always easy. But that’s the kind of innovation we believe in.” Google and Meta and the rest will have to decide their fate."
big tech will still be around, but many are pretty much at the top of their monetization curve. open protocols (similar to HTTP/IP) are in development/likely going to be the future. i hope they address a lot of the issues you mentioned on here - depends on where humanity will choose to build/users choose to congregate, but i'm optimistic too!
The United States has marched closer to China is many aspects in the past 20 years