Culture Studies with Yuri Bezmenov, 1984

According to Mr. Bezmenov, the stages in the process of subversion are four:

1. Demoralization

2. Destabilization

3. Crisis

4. Normalization

Raising our eyebrows with ironic bemusement, we might also consider these stages as being part and parcel of a typical advertising campaign selling one innocuous consumer product or another: laundry detergent, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, energy drinks, exercise club memberships, bondage gear, handguns, gender reassignment surgery, tickets to see a popular music superstar... Along these lines, to what degree are these stages actually resulting from programs advanced by various leaders in education? Too, we are wont to draw distinctions concerning domestic and foreign influence. To what degree is "subversion" advanced by domestic actors, and to what degree is subversion a policy of foreign economic and political forces? Distinctions regarding state vs. private (or corporate) policies also are matters of interest. 

The analyses of these questions suggest advertising, education, social engineering and subversion can overlap. Identifying rubrics to characterize and gauge the overlap can be complicated in a host of ways, of course.

I am not sure where this leaves us; as a matter of historical description, I question where we might find ourselves along the career of decline described by Mr. Bezmenov.  

Here, meanwhile, is related highbrow material worth the attention of those who do not skip it: Fatidic Television. 

Be seeing you.