# Tocqueville on the Emergence of Despotism **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [5 September 2022 17:52 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tocqueville-on-the-emergence-of-despotism/1956 "2022-09-05T17:52:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 15
**Author:** ![jacksarfatti](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jacksarfatti](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jacksarfatti)\ **Post date:** [11 September 2022 17:57 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tocqueville-on-the-emergence-of-despotism/1956/15 "2022-09-11T17:57:05Z")
I grew up in NYC in 1940s, 1950s surrounded by Red Diaper Babies whose parents were if not card-carrying members of Communist Party USA were sympathetic. What we are seeing in US today and to a lesser extent perhaps in UK is the success of Stalin’s “ideological subversion” described by KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov in 1984. [![](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/2X/4/49fa275ca26b2ac039619a5874adf8a30810cada.jpeg "FULL INTERVIEW with Yuri Bezmenov: The Four Stages of Ideological Subversion (1984)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yErKTVdETpw) Even though Soviet Union is gone, the influence operation succeeded now with a life of its own and is into the third generation of Social Justice Warriors, Cancel Culture Maoists et-al. I suspect it is too late to fix, but I hope to be proved wrong. The current apparent military defeat of Putin in Ukraine from US, UK weapons and the Ukraine will to fight only increases the probability that he will launch nukes especially if he fears loss of Crimea. Sept 11, 2022 --- _[View the full topic](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/tocqueville-on-the-emergence-of-despotism/1956)._