The "Demoralisation" Of The West

In 1984, Yuri Bezmenov, a KGB defector, issued his infamous warning to the West. 

Bezmenov claimed that the KGB was engaged in an “ideological subversion” or “demoralisation” of America. A process that would render its citizens incapable of “[coming] to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country.” 

And worst of all, it was already complete. It would just take another generation, plus twenty years or so (aka, right around now), for the effects to take hold:

What it basically means is [changing] the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite the abundance of information, no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country […] 

Exposure to true information does not matter anymore. A person who was demoralised is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures; even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him a concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it until he [receives] a kick in his fat bottom. When a military boot crushes his balls, then he will understand. But not before that.

Thankfully, he couldn’t have been more wrong. 

I mean, sure, there have been a few blips.

I guess some people were unable to assess information about the 2020 election being stolen, despite concrete evidence that Trump tried to steal it. Others, despite the abundance of information, were unable to come to sensible conclusions about COVID or climate change or QAnon. 

And then, of course, there's the ongoing confusion about what a woman is and how numbers work and what “multiracial whiteness” means and whether the Earth is flat and...hmm, okay, maybe Bezmenov was onto something... 

The latest example of this demoralisation has been the West’s bizarre reaction to the Hamas terror attacks. 

We’ve seen the rampant antisemitism in the streets. We’ve seen the gleeful endorsements of terrorism from prominent organisations and institutions. 

But even more baffling, at least to me, has been the outpouring of support from demographics that Hamas would slaughter every bit as enthusiastically as Jews. 

Queers For Palestine, Gays for Gaza, feminists defending Hamas, the memes about chickens for KFC and Blacks for the KKK really do write themselves. 

And even this stupidity pales in comparison to the spectacle of Osama Bin Laden’s "Letter to America" getting love-bombed on TikTok.

I mean, forget chickens for KFC. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present, Americans for Bin Laden. 

So what’s going on here? 

Is it, as Bezmenov claims, the dawning of a new inability to come to sensible conclusions? Is it, as people like Christopher Rufo and James Lindsay believe, an inevitable side-effect of brains pickled by critical theory? Is it, as Abigail Shrier writes in her scorching critique of cultural Marxism, a symptom of the “hatred, envy, and resentment” these activists hold for those who have achieved more than them? 

Maybe it's all of these. But I lean towards an explanation that's simpler than any of them: