The War on Capitalists
January 27, 2026
Entrepreneur & Author
“Education without common sense is like piling a bunch of books on the back of an ass.”
– John H. Corbett , Sr. (my Dad)
——-
Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov, was a former Soviet KGB agent who defected to Canada. During a 1985 interview which is offered in the video link below, he states incredible insights to many tactics, which may well be at play in 2026. If you have not previously reviewed the video, I would strongly suggest that you take ten minutes and learn about what is termed as “ideological subversion.” In general, “Ideological Subversion” is defined as a psychological warfare tool to change what people believe or change the perception of reality. As an offensive tactic by hostile intelligence services, large quantities of misinformation and deception are used as weapons against competing nations or political systems. The purpose of such propaganda driven methodology is to attack people at the psychological level in a bid to destabilize and undermine the entire ideological structure of a nation. The ultimate goal is the complete collapse of the target society.
At this point, let me share two short personal anecdotes that feel particularly relevant and perhaps you may well recognize elements of your own experience in them.
Years ago, I played in a standing Saturday-morning pickup basketball game that met like clockwork under the early California sun. The group was a cross-section of men roughly 35 to 60 years old. No one knew who originally organized the game—it predated all of us and, remarkably, is still being played today—but everyone appreciated the competition and camaraderie. Between games, conversation usually stayed light. Careers rarely came up. On one particular morning, however, the topic drifted there, and a comment from a high-school teacher and athletic coach caught me completely off guard. He referred to me as a “righteous capitalist,” clearly intending it as a compliment. This was years before CRT entered the mainstream, before “white privilege” became a common refrain, and well before anyone seriously floated socialism as a viable alternative economic system. Bernie Sanders was, at that time, an obscure name. The remark was framed positively, yet it carried an unmistakable undertone: I was being categorized as “one of the good ones.”
Fast-forward several years to the second Obama presidential term. I was attending a cocktail party when the conversation turned—as it often does—to politics. I expressed disagreement with one specific policy decision (I no longer recall which), and the response was immediate and jarring. A highly educated University of Notre Dame graduate—an older man, someone I had known for years, someone who had enjoyed the hospitality of my home—flatly called me a racist. He didn’t flinch when I reminded him that I had voted for Obama in his first term. The mere audacity of disagreeing with a single policy was enough to trigger that reaction.
These were small moments in the broader arc of my life, but they’ve stayed with me. This is not a political column. That said, the tragic events of the last few weeks in Minnesota will almost certainly carry long-term consequences. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do have questions—and there’s something about these protests that feels far too organized to ignore. Has there been a quiet war on capitalism and political freedom underway for years? How did we get here? Why do so many leaders seem willing to look past obvious realities? And why do so many people follow along without objection? I recently came across the video below and found it deeply thought-provoking. From where I sit, much of what we’re experiencing today reinforces a lesson my father drilled into me early on: common sense remains the highest form of intelligence. Thanks Dad.
KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov’s warning to America
- To review other editions of our newsletter please see our website: GlobalCommonCents.com
- For more about my personal wonderings please see my blog: JeffCorbett.com
- Jeff Corbett Biography
