“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again
in new shapes of your own choosing.”
― George Orwell, 1984
America is burning around us. Much of the justification is flawed, and many of
the instigators are being sheltered from criticism by a litany of voices and
spurious reasoning. And our institutions which are supposed to protect us from
misinformation leading to this, are merely fanning the flames.
We didn’t get here by accident, or through any kind of organic movement backed
by a populace in demand of change. It was something else entirely, and is still
happening.
Undermining a Nation
In 1984, a KGB defector named Yuri Bezmenof
outlined the process
they commonly used to destabilize enemy countries. It comes in four phases:
- Demoralization which advocates Marxist philosophy to a generation.
- Destabilization where economic fundamentals are affected by the above.
- Crisis involves taking a real event and politicizing it against the
prevailing belief system.
- Normalization is the final stage where true control is established.
The true insidious nature of this process is due to the first stage. Once
indoctrinated children reach the age of majority, they put their beliefs into
motion. They get jobs in industry and government, teach subsequent generations,
and editorialize against the evils they perceive in society as cast by a
Marxist lens which can do no wrong. Or, as Yuri put it:
“They are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain
pattern [alluding to Pavlov]. 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 can not change the basic perception and the logic of
behavior.”
This is actually a fairly standard exploit of
cognitive dissonance
when combined with early indoctrination. Is it possible that beliefs you’ve
held dear for your entire life are wrong? Or is there some way
confirmation bias
can safely reinterpret the situation in your favor?
While not exactly a complementary evaluation of human nature, people tend to
strongly adhere to their beliefs, and will espouse them to others if possible.
That’s not exactly new or interesting. But this sets a precedent that can be
further exploited.
Yuri believed the Demoralization phase was fantastically successful as early as
the 60s. Enter phase 2: Destabilization.
Antifa Isn’t
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what
they do not want to hear.”
― George Orwell
Once properly educated, the more fanatical adherents become cultural warriors.
Antifa is ostensibly the name you give any reasonable person who opposes
Fascism. Anti-Fa; get it? Unfortunately, the loosely organized Antifa groups
follow a somewhat different set of tenets.
When most Americans see the word Fascism, they likely think of dictatorships
featuring Benito Mussolini or perhaps Hitler’s Germany. However, a Marxist
means something else entirely when they discuss Fascism, as suggested by a
rather lengthy
essay
that essentially framed Fascism as a “modern world” Capitalism in 1935.
Given that Capitalism was already considered “decayed” into Fascism by Marxists
way back in 1935, one must wonder what they think about it over 80 years later.
The “original” Antifa, Antifaschistischer Aufbau München, put it this way:
“The fight against fascism is only won when the capitalist system has been
shattered and a classless society has been achieved”
It should be noted that several false equivalences are made here:
- Fascism and Capitalism are synonymous.
- That a lack of Capitalism will necessarily result in a classless society.
- That a classless society is desirable.
The third point is debatable; it’s more likely that a classless society is
not achievable, given this would also require defeating human selfishness
itself.
Regardless, it is this kind of redefinition that garners far more support for
their causes than is otherwise warranted. Antifa is “fighting the good fight”
after all. Perhaps their methods leave a bit to be desired, but you need to
break a few eggs to make an omelet, no?
There is a fantastic two part essay by the Gatestone Institute that really
delves into their origin, beliefs, and methods:
Given the above context suggested by Yuri, Antifa themselves appear to be the
result of that early work. And it’s not just Capitalism they want to dismantle,
but several cornerstones of America, including its literal borders.
Additionally, they continue to redefine language to fit their needs. Tweets
like this are not uncommon among Antifa groups:
This is where we’re introduced to the ever-present specters of “White
Supremacy” and “Patriarchy” in addition to the evils of Capitalism. It’s also
where it becomes plainly evident precisely which indoctrination took hold.
Not Your Father’s White Supremacy
For those who still think White Supremacy is the belief that white people
are superior, it may be time to reassess that notion. Like the concept of
opposing Fascism really meaning dismantling Capitalism, the idea of White
Supremacy has evolved into the concept that western nations were built for and
by white people, and thus necessarily excludes anyone else.
The site Showing Up for Racial Justice
puts it this way:
Cultural racism is how the dominant culture is founded upon and then shapes
norms, values, beliefs and standards to advantage white people and oppress
People of Color.
And thus the very fabric of Western societies is inherently oppressive, which
requires them to be dismantled entirely. Fighting racism and hate doesn’t mean
arguing with racists and trying to explain the error in their ways, but by
tearing down the societies in which we live. Opposing that means opposing
equality; an interesting catch-22 that makes a racist of anyone that expresses
doubt against these various assertions.
Likewise, the terms Misogyny and Patriarchy have become similarly overloaded.
They no longer mean hatred of women or imposition of a father figure. Now there
is an underlying current of oppression, as required by Marxist ideology. There
must be an oppressor and an oppressed in order for a revolution to occur.
So what exactly is supremacist about Western nations? Luckily, the Smithsonian
produced a handy infographic outlining it:
The idea of a slippery slope is often discounted as scaremongering. Yet here
is literal proof that the scientific method, families, and time are all
considered white supremacist concepts. The irony here is that in order to
presume that white people either invented or unduly benefit from these concepts
that gave us the modern world, one would have to assume other races didn’t or
couldn’t.
The soft bigotry of low expectations suggests this is the case. Is there
anything more white supremacist than that?
But again, this is expected when trying to cause an upheaval in society. It is
necessary to undermine every ideal, right down to the roots, so that it falls
apart from within.
BLM Isn’t About Black Lives
As further proof of that, let’s consider the Black Lives Matter movement. The
only people who believe black lives don’t matter are the tiny remaining cabal
of crazy racists that will eventually die out. No country that elects a black
man to the highest office in the land is fundamentally and primarily racist.
Yet this somehow devolved into ongoing riots and destruction across the country.
Part of this is understandable, especially given the previous context that
suggests America is racist simply by existing. From that frame of reference,
“burning down the system” would be the natural response. Once again, Yuri would
be proud.
Why is that? While this came to a head following the recent death of George
Floyd, the movement and organization behind BLM are nothing new. Two of the
founders of the BLM organization put it this way:
“We actually do have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia [Garza] in
particular, we’re trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super
versed on ideological theories.”
— BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, July 22, 2015.
Perhaps even more illuminating, is that Susan
Rosenberg sits on the board of
Thousand Currents, which handles funding for BLM. The TL;DR here is that a
convicted communist terrorist who attacked government buildings with
explosives, now sits on the board that funds BLM.
BLM exists to foment revolutionary rhetoric, and so far it has been very
successful. So far at least 20 people (most black) have died as a direct result of the ongoing
riots.
We are now in phase 3: Crisis.
Everything Old is New Again
“One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution;
one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
― George Orwell, 1984
Whether or when we reach phase 4 (Normalization) is yet to be seen. However,
one of the events that occurred during these riots should give one pause.
Though dismantled, the Seattle CHAZ (Capital Hill Autonomous Zone) / CHOP
(Capital Hill Occupied Protest) persisted for several weeks unhindered.
Though members claim it began as a kind of hippy commune, the occupation
occurred despite the people who lived there, and businesses that were forced to
shutter themselves. This area cordoned off several blocks of the city, resulted
in severe property damage, and swiftly devolved into a dictatorship.
In what was supposed to be a cop-free zone,
Raz Simone
took over and began enforcing laws to keep the peace. Nobody elected him, and
despite the protection he was providing, four people were murdered in Seattle
in the space of 10 days. One of these was at the hands of the security
force itself.
Instead of a police force which is governed by laws and is presumably
accountable to the rightfully elected government, Seattle got a group of armed
vigilantes accountable to none. A security force which, if the video can
believed, gunned down two black teenagers, much like the much maligned law
enforcement they want to abolish.
What was supposed to be a “summer of love” according to Seattle Mayor Jenny
Durkan instead became a lawless bloodbath. The overriding issue is that CHAZ /
CHOP existed at all, since it illustrates that a foothold for a persistent
revolution—however tiny and ephemeral—is possible. It set a precedent that
others will attempt to emulate. Unless immediately stopped, they could even
succeed.
Given how brazen these attacks are becoming, can we even rule out that
possibility anymore? If that ever happens, we enter phase 4.
What We End Up With
Perfect is the enemy of Good. In ruthlessly striving for perfection, we risk
devolving into chaos as we destroy everything in order to reach that impossible
utopia. Yuri also had an answer for what happens after that final revolution
that brings down the prevailing society:
They serve purpose only at the stage of destabilization of a nation. For
example, your Leftists in the United States, all these professors and all
these beautiful civil rights defender, they are instrumental in the process
of subversion, only to destabilize the nation. When the job is completed,
they are none, they are not needed any more. They know too much. Some of
them, when they see the Marxist-Leninists come to power, obviously, they get
offended. They think that they will come to power. That will never happen,
of course. They will be lined up against the wall and shot.
After all, as Antifa are often fond of saying, “Liberals get the bullet too.”
Either way, unless we do something to halt this slow unraveling of social
norms, we will have front-row seats to the surreal real-time collapse of The
West in general.
That may not have been possible in past cultural tumult, but the ongoing
Covid-19 crisis has substantially weakened everything. Our resolve,
international shipping lines, the economy, businesses of all description,
medicine, our daily lives. We are literally on the brink of collapse, and
keep experiencing further upsets to morale. All while our cities burn down
around us with seemingly no end in sight.
It’s not simply that what comes after will be unlike what came before. There is
real potential here for Western societies—all of them—to cease functioning
entirely. If there is to be change, I’d prefer it to be gradual, lest we risk
derailing the train entirely off a cliff.
But revolution makes no account for feasibility or sustainability, only action.
I can only hope it went off prematurely, and it can be stopped now that it has
become so blatant while there are enough dissenters.
If not, well, it was nice knowing you.
