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KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

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Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#21
FSB shills are out in full force on HN on this one trying to discredit him with exceptional pilpul and deflection.

I grew up in the Eastern Bloc and find his stories plausible. Everything Bezmenov said is true. Watch the entire interview.

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#22
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One should ask, though, what makes improvement impossible.

A rational person would indeed ask that. Is that what we're dealing with tho?

What I mean is, when dealing with an irrational or antirational person, who is behaving this way because other kinds of action are impossible, we should ask what constrains them. If they are not actually in control of their circumstances, then we can't really pooh-pooh their irrationality because they are not free to choose.

We like to assume that we are all masters of our own circumstances and can deal with any obstacle or misfortune by adjusting ourselves to match it, but this presumes a degree of autonomy that does not always exist in fact.

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#23

FSB shills are out in full force on HN on this one trying to discredit him with exceptional pilpul and deflection. I grew up in the Eastern Bloc and find his stories plausible. Everything Bezmenov said is true. Watch the entire interview.

Hasn't a lot of this guy's rhetoric and credentials been debunked over and over as a bit hyperbolic. I mean... the guy made a career out of selling fear?

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not comparable. Reminds me of this joke: Sure, the Soviet Union has free speech, just like in America. In the US, you can stand in front of the White House and yell, "Down with Reagan," and it's fine. Moscow is like that too. You can stand on Red Square and yell, "Down with Reagan." No problem at all

[flagged]

Even worse, the US is about to ban TikTok. At first I thought they were only going to ban it for government and contractor devices, but it seems now that it will be banned for everyone. I don't use TikTok and probably never will, but how is this bill even constitutionally legal? I understand the concerns about data collection, but the USG seems more concerned about WHO is doing the collecting rather than the collecting itself. If the concern is about the propagation of "disinformation", Amendment I of the US Constitution prohibits this sort of censoring. During WWII, allied troops in the South Pacific listened to "Tokyo Rose" with no interference from the USG. That was back in the day when US citizens did not need to be told what to think by their government.

The Soviet Union had a strict censorship regime that the west referred to as "The Iron Curtain." China has "The Great Firewall" now. What will the world soon be calling ours?

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/7/23629469/restrict-act-byte...

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#26
post #23

FSB shills are out in full force on HN on this one trying to discredit him with exceptional pilpul and deflection. I grew up in the Eastern Bloc and find his stories plausible. Everything Bezmenov said is true. Watch the entire interview.

Hasn't a lot of this guy's rhetoric and credentials been debunked over and over as a bit hyperbolic. I mean... the guy made a career out of selling fear?

What career? He died a few years after this interview.

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#27

This interview keeps coming up, and I don't really understand why. It's utterly uninteresting. Bezmenov had an inconsequential role in the KGB. He was not privy to any large-scale details. Bezmenov defected in 1970. After his defection would not be privy to any new information. The interview is from 1984 and not 1985 as the title purports. Ultimately, the claims in this video are categorically false. We can observe t…

This has nothing to do with Reagan. Bezmenov defected to Canada. His role in the KGB was so inconsequential that he saw the files of journalists who were slated for executed come revolution. Got it. I'm sure everyone could freely access those.

> This has nothing to do with Reagan. Bezmenov defected to Canada.

And the interviewer is an American. They're talking about American conditions. Where he defected isn't that important within that context. Additionally, he moved to Los Angeles a couple of years before this interview was conducted. Specifically to have an easier time connecting with his audience.

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#28

This interview keeps coming up, and I don't really understand why. It's utterly uninteresting. Bezmenov had an inconsequential role in the KGB. He was not privy to any large-scale details. Bezmenov defected in 1970. After his defection would not be privy to any new information. The interview is from 1984 and not 1985 as the title purports. Ultimately, the claims in this video are categorically false. We can observe t…

Did he even work for the KGB? Where does this claim originate? Wikipedia says he worked for a Soviet press agency, but I don't see a good source that documents his involvement with KGB that doesn't ultimately track back to himself.

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Even worse, the US is about to ban TikTok. At first I thought they were only going to ban it for government and contractor devices, but it seems now that it will be banned for everyone. I don't use TikTok and probably never will, but how is this bill even constitutionally legal? I understand the concerns about data collection, but the USG seems more concerned about WHO is doing the collecting rather than the collecti…

I vote for Freedom Fence.

Re: KGB Defector Yuri Bezmenov 1985 Interview – Idealogical Subversion

#30

This interview keeps coming up, and I don't really understand why. It's utterly uninteresting. Bezmenov had an inconsequential role in the KGB. He was not privy to any large-scale details. Bezmenov defected in 1970. After his defection would not be privy to any new information. The interview is from 1984 and not 1985 as the title purports. Ultimately, the claims in this video are categorically false. We can observe t…

This has nothing to do with Reagan. Bezmenov defected to Canada. His role in the KGB was so inconsequential that he saw the files of journalists who were slated for executed come revolution. Got it. I'm sure everyone could freely access those.

He defected to Canada, but in 1970. The interview in the 1980s took place during the Reagan administration. The gp's argument is that there was a market for Bezmenov's just-so explanations, due in part to Reagan's policies. Anti-Soviet sentiment in the US was also high at the time, due to the USSR's brutal invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

The more serious criticism in my view is that not many of Bezmenov's specific allegations have been well-corroborated since, although a great deal of information about the KGB became available, eg the Mitrokhin archive - although parts do remain classified (by the UK).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitrokhin_Archive

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