Soviet Union carried out an extensive program of ideological subversion against the United States of American – Because they [Leftists] know too much. Simply because, you see, they useful idiots, the Leftists who are idealistically believing in the beauty of Soviet socialist or Communist or whatever system when they get disillusioned, they become the worst enemies. That’s why my KGB instructors specifically made a point, never bother with Leftists. Forget about these political prostitutes. Aim higher. This was my instruction. Try to get into large (wide) circulation, established conservative media. Reach the filthy rich movie makers, intellectuals, so-called academic circles, cynical, ego-centric people who can look into your eyes with an angelic expression and tell you a lie. These are the most recruitable people. …
Ideological subversion is the process which is legitimate, overt and open. You can see it with your own eyes. All you have to do—all American mass media has to do—is to unplug their bananas from their ears, open up their eyes and they can see it. There is no mystery. There is nothing to do with espionage. . . . But in reality, the main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. According to my opinion and the opinion of many defectors of my caliber. Only about fifteen percent of time, money, and manpower is spent on espionage as such. The other 85 percent is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion, or active measures . . . or psychological warfare.
What it basically means is to change 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 interests of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country. It’s a great brainwashing process which goes very slow and is divided into four basic stages.