Editor’s Note: Ayaan Hirsi Ali asks the question, “What is subversion?” and then answers it with a definition that captures what we are seeing right now in our world. Her words are haunting and get to the source of our sense that something has gone terribly wrong.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, writing in The Free Press asks: “What is at stake in our ability to see the threat plainly? Nothing less than the preservation of our way of life.”
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“If you wonder why I—a woman of color, an African, a former Muslim, a former asylum seeker, and an immigrant—look at the antics of today’s anti-Israel, anti-American protesters with such fear and trembling, allow me to explain…”
Before I explain who might be doing the subverting, and for what reason, let me first explain what I mean by it. The best description comes from Yuri Bezmenov, who says that this form of subversion is very gradual, but ultimately transformational.
Bezmenov had been a KGB agent promoting foreign subversion when he grew disillusioned with the Soviet system. In 1970, he defected to the West—to Greece, then Canada. The rest of his life was dedicated to exposing the secret Soviet apparatus of subversion in the West.
Living in the West in 1983, Bezmenov gave a lecture in which he explained “Psychological Warfare, Subversion, and the Control of Society.” It begins:
Subversion refers to a process by which the values and principles of an established system are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to sabotage the existing social order and its structures of power, authority, tradition, hierarchy, and social norms. It involves a systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system, often carried out by persons working secretly from within. Subversion is used as a tool to achieve political goals because it generally carries less risk, cost, and difficulty as opposed to open belligerency. The act of subversion can lead to the destruction or damage of an established system or government. In the context of ideological subversion, subversion aims to gradually change the perception and values of a society, ultimately leading to the undermining of its existing systems and beliefs.
One of the key insights Bezmenov expresses about a subverted society is that, for a while, there is only a passing sense that something is wrong. It’s a mood—a vibe. I believe that’s what many of us have been witnessing for several years now, maybe even as long as a decade or two.
The pressure makes society rumble like a volcano, quiet one minute and flaring the next. Then, finally—and seemingly suddenly—the revolution bursts into view.
When, on October 8, protests erupted across the Western world in support of Hamas—and not the democracy that had been overrun by terrorists—I saw the revolution. When I look at the recent spectacle at Columbia or Yale or UCLA or Harvard or Stanford—students tearing down American flags and raising Palestinian ones; or chanting in Arabic “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—it is hard not to see the fruit of this long process. I hear the same when, week after week, the streets of London, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Hamburg ring with cries of “intifada” or open demands for a caliphate or Sharia law in the heart of Europe.
How did it happen?
Bezmenov described the subversion process as a complex model with four successive stages, a diagram of which I have provided. These are, in order: demoralization, destabilization, crisis, and finally, normalization.
The author believes three forces are at work right now unraveling our world. Find out who they are. Read the article HERE.
Marc OrvinJune 16, 2024
Excellent article. We are being herded, like sheep, by forces that we don't fully understand. Please take the time to read the entire article. It will open your eyes. Ultimately, I hope it will open your mind to how we are being manipulated.