There's nothing harder than leaving behind a place you love whose decline into madness and decay has broken your heart.
There's much to comment on here, but I'll pull out the comparison to the 70s and 80s. My impression, admittedly based entirely on Hollywood, is that during that period NYC had a lot of crime, but was also a lot of fun. It's the era that bred men like your superintendent. It was a dangerous city, but a free city, and that superposition of grime and crime with irrepressible independence and joi de vivre was what gave NYC its unique, rough charm.
By contrast, a decade of soys and karens has utterly gutted NYC as a fun place, while their ineffectual enabling of the underclass has deliberately cultivated a zombie horde. All the dirt and ugliness of the 70s, along with the 1984 technetronic control grid. A joyless anarchotyranny. Much worse than the 70s I'd think - certainly the current situation is utterly lacking in any sort of charm or romance.
I can't help but wonder Giuliani and Bloomberg were partially responsible. Broken windows policy, indoor smoking band, etc. turned NYC into a safer, cleaner, but more sterile and corporate environment. Once the political pendulum shifted left, the spirit of the city had been damaged sufficiently that there was nothing to stand in the way of the crushing conformity of the woke mind virus. A certain degree of recalcitrant corruption, a reflexive fuck you attitude, may make a city a spicier place to live, but also makes it that much harder to impose tyranny since such a culture produces social friction instinctively.
Feb 5, 2023·edited Feb 6, 2023Liked by Yuri Bezmenov
I am a native NYer who left about a decade ago, but all my family and most of my friends still live there, and I just need to say:
The most shocking depressing infuriating aspect in all of this for me is how ideologically brainwashed my friends are, how angry they get when you step on one of their media-generated taboos, how they remind me of Ned Flanders anytime he sees a cross, except now it's just hearing the words "Black" or "Trans" and they immediately genuflect and begin praying to their new idols.
I am in my early 50s and my friends and I spent at least 20 years living downtown (late 80s to mid 00s) and maybe discussed politics 2 hrs total, we checked all the countercultural boxes, we had no dogma and very few sacred beliefs (and these are intelligent accomplished people that I love).
Even if I live to be 1000 I will never not be in shock as to how the brainwashing blob got to my people, I can only surmise that the social pressures are too strong to resist. (And also they have been gradually culturally conditioned to believe in their bones that anyone remotely conservative is a Nazi bigot, so there is never a reason to see another side of any issue.)
The last 5ish years really have been like living in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Feb 5, 2023·edited Feb 5, 2023Liked by Yuri Bezmenov
A superb summation of the cultural rot alongside the intentional anarcho-tyranny. SADS to see. It's likely there won't be a reprieve this time with a political shift as there was in the 1990s when Giuliani took out the trash. Once all the sane people depart the masochistic torture they're funding with taxes, the cycle will simply continue. The billionaires will be immune as they jump from Maybach to Central Park view Penthouse to Maybach to Michelin bistro back to Maybach to private helicopter etc. After a certain point (perhaps fast approaching) there will be little sympathy for victims who choose to stay in such a hellscape. Learning curves need to sharpen so these cities go bankrupt again. Wise move Comrade. Greener pastures await wherever you go. Your daughter will one day thank you. Godspeed.
Great post, Yuri--godspeed. This brings up memories of my great escape from San Francisco. (I landed in another place almost as bad, but that's a story for another time...) The day before we moved, there was a pants-less drug addict passed out right in front of our door, which I figured was a sign. But there is much sadness in leaving these once-great cities, because they do still have elements of greatness. And other, saner areas come with tradeoffs: chances are they're less exciting, more provincial, and more generic, with less of an insane concentration of talent and uniqueness. Good luck getting world-class bagels wherever you're going. I miss the incredible Bay Area food and general spectacle I encountered daily; everything else feels a little boring. I mourn the great cities and despise that the Communists have overtaken them. You're doing the right thing, but there will probably be a mourning and adjustment period, especially since you have such deep roots there. But do continue the exodus and let us expand colonies of freedom! Keep us posted!
Hopefully you can move to an area where the nuisance of Nazi supporting, mask-wearing nincompoops is far less dense.
Thankfully, I live in a demoralized but spacious locale. Sure, the useful idiots are all around, but I can easily avoid them by staying on my property. I drag logs out of the woods to my woodshed, slice them up and split/stack them for later use.
Nobody can come up my long driveway without an alarm sounding inside the house and then the 100lb bulldog starts barking.
The scariest thing to the demoralized and their pet victims is a self-sufficient person who can swing an axe all day to make firewood.
(Also, the FUPAZ wymyn get moist at the sight and loudly proclaim anti-male nonsense to hide their secret attraction,)
Here, the rich jerkoffs live right on the water and seldom venture out away from Starbucks and wine stores to "brave the Trumpers" they believe are hiding behind every tree.
It's a paradise.
Of course, there aren't any "Ultra MAGA republicans" ten minutes away from the coast but that's how they see it nonetheless. Fine. Stay the fuck away from me.
Hopefully you can be in a place where Yulia can go play in the yard until it's too dark and the dinner bell is ringing. Being outside and immersed in actual nature is best for kids. They see things only vaguely or rarely described in textbooks at SKOOL, and are then able to draw their own conclusions about the nature of all things.
Eat or be eaten, fight or die. The struggle to survive still goes on around us and right at our feet in the natural world. A child happening upon ants dragging a fat a furry spider away from their nest while pulling legs off of said spider teaches them more than an entire year of hearing tainted natural history from a Kommissar in the re-education kamp/programming facility.
Once you know, you can't really UNKnow that reality and as a parent you've won.
I applaud your move and wish you, the missus and baby all the best in a place ANYWHERE BUT NYC.
Also, anywhere BUT a Karenland FUPAZ.
Good luck, heat with wood, raise hens for eggs and grow veggies on your own land.
Eat well, sleep well.
Get some rest, because our depraved ruling class is going to drive us right into a nuclear holocaust.
Having made several long moves (Pennsylvania-Florida-Arizona) over the course of my lifetime I can understand the bittersweet feelings you may be experiencing. Leaving someplace with so many good memories and friends is tough. BUT...CHANGE IS EXCITING!! AND HEALTHY!! You and Mrs. Bezmenov and Baby Yulia (and it sounds like extended family is also going?) will settle in and build wonderful lives in your new state. They are lucky to have you. Be well. Safe travels. Many blessings.
I love your writing and appreciate your sentiments. This is particularly brilliant: "NYC is like a cruise ship: you pay high prices tiny apartments because endless entertainment awaits on deck 24/7."
I'm new to your Substack, but I'm really enjoying it so far ;)
My husband and I (and our four kids) lived in NYC from late 2014 until 2020. We loved our time in New York. We feel like we caught some of the city's best years. We saw countless theater and music performances. I ran at Brooklyn Bridge Park several times per week and it kept me sane.
We flew to CA in May 2020, where we had a house (which had been a vacation rental for years) and where we had a yard. When we left Brooklyn, it never occurred to us that we wouldn't return (except to pack everything and move). During the summer we enrolled our kids in schools in CA "just in case" and we eventually gave up our Brooklyn apartment(in September).
Our four kids (aged 18 to 12 in 2020) were in four different NYC public schools and each took the subway by themselves. Our car-less life there worked. Until it didn't. Summer of 2020, it became clear that our NY life, which was precariously balanced on the requirement that our kids could ride the subway by themselves, didn't work anymore.
We all missed NYC, but we reminded ourselves that the city that we missed didn't exist anymore. We did our best to reintegrate into Northern CA.
Then Emperor Newsom made California intolerable. All summer the schools had said "hybrid hybrid hybrid" for fall but then announced at the last minute that schools would be remote only. Our oldest went off to college (which was pretty terrible, too), but our other three never got to meet their teachers or classmates. Within two months, our three excellent students were failing in school.
To make a long story short, we cut our losses, put the CA house on the market, and took the plunge: we relocated to Dallas. We have been in TX for over two years now and are grateful that we made the move. No, it's not as exciting as NYC. And it doesn't have the natural beauty of CA. But Texas has a big dose of "normal," which we were in desperate need of.
Best wishes to you in your search for greener pastures! Change is good!
Feb 5, 2023·edited Feb 5, 2023Liked by Yuri Bezmenov
Born and raised in the NYC Metro. Lived everywhere except the Bronx and Staten Island. Worked in Manhattan for 15 year after college. After 15 years of the NYC subways, Metro North and the LIRR, I was done. Left in the late 90's before it got bad. Moved to the SF Bay Area. Left kicking and screaming after four years of living in paradise. Moved to the Philly 'burbs and never looked back. (I'm far enough west of the city that the Karens are mostly held at bay.)
You will find that your move will prove to bear fruit faster than you had imagined.
Always wanted to visit New York. Guess I can scratch it off my bucket list now, unfortunately. I can't even get in the country anymore because I'm a pureblood...
Oh, my precious Yuri...I understand more than you can imagine. I am a 3rd generation San Franciscan. I’m 59, so the memories I have growing up in SF are indescribable. Everything was wonderful, imaginative, funky, cosmopolitan, classy, yet so down to earth. There was a HUGE working middle class, and so many children! SF was like a small town, where you’d always run into someone you knew. The restaurants, bars, and entertainment was rivaled to none! There was so much historical beauty and so much to look forward to. I never thought I’d leave San Fransicko. I haven’t been there in years, and I’m miles away. I just want to remember it the way it was. I don’t think you’ll miss NYC. You’ll embrace your new home, honor what was, and be thankful you were able to experience that iconic city for the joy of what it was. May God the Father guide you (He already has), and bless the road you travel on the journey with your loved ones!
On a related note, one of the most surreal things I've ever seen was driving through the SF tenderloin at night a few years ago. Someone should set up a tour bus route called "The John Carpenter Experience".
I used to frequent NYC in the late 70’s into the 80’s. It was a fun place. I can’t imagine going there now.
I recently move from a much smaller urban area to 10 acres in the country. A refreshing change! The post offices takes from 12:30 to 1:00 for lunch break. So do the banks and pharmacies. Embrace the quirks of the new environment, it’s part of the choice/change!
I escaped in February, 2021 from inside the DMZ to FL. I hope you're getting far enough away from the Blue Nazi Commies - NJ is, in many ways, even worse than NYC. Good luck.
Thank you for this tribute to the fine and wonderful place that was. I enjoyed my formative years in New York City's glorious '60s & '70s. You highlighted many causes of the rot. Yet, the root cause is a software bug in the human mind that internalizes media messages as true reality. As "you" warned us many decades ago, evil will take advantage of this bug. Evil foisted TDS and the other delusions upon good souls who lost their way. I mourn this loss every day.
There's nothing harder than leaving behind a place you love whose decline into madness and decay has broken your heart.
There's much to comment on here, but I'll pull out the comparison to the 70s and 80s. My impression, admittedly based entirely on Hollywood, is that during that period NYC had a lot of crime, but was also a lot of fun. It's the era that bred men like your superintendent. It was a dangerous city, but a free city, and that superposition of grime and crime with irrepressible independence and joi de vivre was what gave NYC its unique, rough charm.
By contrast, a decade of soys and karens has utterly gutted NYC as a fun place, while their ineffectual enabling of the underclass has deliberately cultivated a zombie horde. All the dirt and ugliness of the 70s, along with the 1984 technetronic control grid. A joyless anarchotyranny. Much worse than the 70s I'd think - certainly the current situation is utterly lacking in any sort of charm or romance.
I can't help but wonder Giuliani and Bloomberg were partially responsible. Broken windows policy, indoor smoking band, etc. turned NYC into a safer, cleaner, but more sterile and corporate environment. Once the political pendulum shifted left, the spirit of the city had been damaged sufficiently that there was nothing to stand in the way of the crushing conformity of the woke mind virus. A certain degree of recalcitrant corruption, a reflexive fuck you attitude, may make a city a spicier place to live, but also makes it that much harder to impose tyranny since such a culture produces social friction instinctively.
I am a native NYer who left about a decade ago, but all my family and most of my friends still live there, and I just need to say:
The most shocking depressing infuriating aspect in all of this for me is how ideologically brainwashed my friends are, how angry they get when you step on one of their media-generated taboos, how they remind me of Ned Flanders anytime he sees a cross, except now it's just hearing the words "Black" or "Trans" and they immediately genuflect and begin praying to their new idols.
I am in my early 50s and my friends and I spent at least 20 years living downtown (late 80s to mid 00s) and maybe discussed politics 2 hrs total, we checked all the countercultural boxes, we had no dogma and very few sacred beliefs (and these are intelligent accomplished people that I love).
Even if I live to be 1000 I will never not be in shock as to how the brainwashing blob got to my people, I can only surmise that the social pressures are too strong to resist. (And also they have been gradually culturally conditioned to believe in their bones that anyone remotely conservative is a Nazi bigot, so there is never a reason to see another side of any issue.)
The last 5ish years really have been like living in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
A superb summation of the cultural rot alongside the intentional anarcho-tyranny. SADS to see. It's likely there won't be a reprieve this time with a political shift as there was in the 1990s when Giuliani took out the trash. Once all the sane people depart the masochistic torture they're funding with taxes, the cycle will simply continue. The billionaires will be immune as they jump from Maybach to Central Park view Penthouse to Maybach to Michelin bistro back to Maybach to private helicopter etc. After a certain point (perhaps fast approaching) there will be little sympathy for victims who choose to stay in such a hellscape. Learning curves need to sharpen so these cities go bankrupt again. Wise move Comrade. Greener pastures await wherever you go. Your daughter will one day thank you. Godspeed.
Great post, Yuri--godspeed. This brings up memories of my great escape from San Francisco. (I landed in another place almost as bad, but that's a story for another time...) The day before we moved, there was a pants-less drug addict passed out right in front of our door, which I figured was a sign. But there is much sadness in leaving these once-great cities, because they do still have elements of greatness. And other, saner areas come with tradeoffs: chances are they're less exciting, more provincial, and more generic, with less of an insane concentration of talent and uniqueness. Good luck getting world-class bagels wherever you're going. I miss the incredible Bay Area food and general spectacle I encountered daily; everything else feels a little boring. I mourn the great cities and despise that the Communists have overtaken them. You're doing the right thing, but there will probably be a mourning and adjustment period, especially since you have such deep roots there. But do continue the exodus and let us expand colonies of freedom! Keep us posted!
Hopefully you can move to an area where the nuisance of Nazi supporting, mask-wearing nincompoops is far less dense.
Thankfully, I live in a demoralized but spacious locale. Sure, the useful idiots are all around, but I can easily avoid them by staying on my property. I drag logs out of the woods to my woodshed, slice them up and split/stack them for later use.
Nobody can come up my long driveway without an alarm sounding inside the house and then the 100lb bulldog starts barking.
The scariest thing to the demoralized and their pet victims is a self-sufficient person who can swing an axe all day to make firewood.
(Also, the FUPAZ wymyn get moist at the sight and loudly proclaim anti-male nonsense to hide their secret attraction,)
Here, the rich jerkoffs live right on the water and seldom venture out away from Starbucks and wine stores to "brave the Trumpers" they believe are hiding behind every tree.
It's a paradise.
Of course, there aren't any "Ultra MAGA republicans" ten minutes away from the coast but that's how they see it nonetheless. Fine. Stay the fuck away from me.
Hopefully you can be in a place where Yulia can go play in the yard until it's too dark and the dinner bell is ringing. Being outside and immersed in actual nature is best for kids. They see things only vaguely or rarely described in textbooks at SKOOL, and are then able to draw their own conclusions about the nature of all things.
Eat or be eaten, fight or die. The struggle to survive still goes on around us and right at our feet in the natural world. A child happening upon ants dragging a fat a furry spider away from their nest while pulling legs off of said spider teaches them more than an entire year of hearing tainted natural history from a Kommissar in the re-education kamp/programming facility.
Once you know, you can't really UNKnow that reality and as a parent you've won.
I applaud your move and wish you, the missus and baby all the best in a place ANYWHERE BUT NYC.
Also, anywhere BUT a Karenland FUPAZ.
Good luck, heat with wood, raise hens for eggs and grow veggies on your own land.
Eat well, sleep well.
Get some rest, because our depraved ruling class is going to drive us right into a nuclear holocaust.
Having made several long moves (Pennsylvania-Florida-Arizona) over the course of my lifetime I can understand the bittersweet feelings you may be experiencing. Leaving someplace with so many good memories and friends is tough. BUT...CHANGE IS EXCITING!! AND HEALTHY!! You and Mrs. Bezmenov and Baby Yulia (and it sounds like extended family is also going?) will settle in and build wonderful lives in your new state. They are lucky to have you. Be well. Safe travels. Many blessings.
I love your writing and appreciate your sentiments. This is particularly brilliant: "NYC is like a cruise ship: you pay high prices tiny apartments because endless entertainment awaits on deck 24/7."
Dear Yuri,
I'm new to your Substack, but I'm really enjoying it so far ;)
My husband and I (and our four kids) lived in NYC from late 2014 until 2020. We loved our time in New York. We feel like we caught some of the city's best years. We saw countless theater and music performances. I ran at Brooklyn Bridge Park several times per week and it kept me sane.
We flew to CA in May 2020, where we had a house (which had been a vacation rental for years) and where we had a yard. When we left Brooklyn, it never occurred to us that we wouldn't return (except to pack everything and move). During the summer we enrolled our kids in schools in CA "just in case" and we eventually gave up our Brooklyn apartment(in September).
Our four kids (aged 18 to 12 in 2020) were in four different NYC public schools and each took the subway by themselves. Our car-less life there worked. Until it didn't. Summer of 2020, it became clear that our NY life, which was precariously balanced on the requirement that our kids could ride the subway by themselves, didn't work anymore.
We all missed NYC, but we reminded ourselves that the city that we missed didn't exist anymore. We did our best to reintegrate into Northern CA.
Then Emperor Newsom made California intolerable. All summer the schools had said "hybrid hybrid hybrid" for fall but then announced at the last minute that schools would be remote only. Our oldest went off to college (which was pretty terrible, too), but our other three never got to meet their teachers or classmates. Within two months, our three excellent students were failing in school.
To make a long story short, we cut our losses, put the CA house on the market, and took the plunge: we relocated to Dallas. We have been in TX for over two years now and are grateful that we made the move. No, it's not as exciting as NYC. And it doesn't have the natural beauty of CA. But Texas has a big dose of "normal," which we were in desperate need of.
Best wishes to you in your search for greener pastures! Change is good!
Heather Libson
Born and raised in the NYC Metro. Lived everywhere except the Bronx and Staten Island. Worked in Manhattan for 15 year after college. After 15 years of the NYC subways, Metro North and the LIRR, I was done. Left in the late 90's before it got bad. Moved to the SF Bay Area. Left kicking and screaming after four years of living in paradise. Moved to the Philly 'burbs and never looked back. (I'm far enough west of the city that the Karens are mostly held at bay.)
You will find that your move will prove to bear fruit faster than you had imagined.
Always wanted to visit New York. Guess I can scratch it off my bucket list now, unfortunately. I can't even get in the country anymore because I'm a pureblood...
Oh, my precious Yuri...I understand more than you can imagine. I am a 3rd generation San Franciscan. I’m 59, so the memories I have growing up in SF are indescribable. Everything was wonderful, imaginative, funky, cosmopolitan, classy, yet so down to earth. There was a HUGE working middle class, and so many children! SF was like a small town, where you’d always run into someone you knew. The restaurants, bars, and entertainment was rivaled to none! There was so much historical beauty and so much to look forward to. I never thought I’d leave San Fransicko. I haven’t been there in years, and I’m miles away. I just want to remember it the way it was. I don’t think you’ll miss NYC. You’ll embrace your new home, honor what was, and be thankful you were able to experience that iconic city for the joy of what it was. May God the Father guide you (He already has), and bless the road you travel on the journey with your loved ones!
Your commentary is wonderful!
Great summary. Not sure where your headed but hope it's not Austin. They have formally lost their minds and might as well be NYC/SF/LA.
On a related note, one of the most surreal things I've ever seen was driving through the SF tenderloin at night a few years ago. Someone should set up a tour bus route called "The John Carpenter Experience".
Congratulations on your escape!
Wow!
I used to frequent NYC in the late 70’s into the 80’s. It was a fun place. I can’t imagine going there now.
I recently move from a much smaller urban area to 10 acres in the country. A refreshing change! The post offices takes from 12:30 to 1:00 for lunch break. So do the banks and pharmacies. Embrace the quirks of the new environment, it’s part of the choice/change!
I escaped in February, 2021 from inside the DMZ to FL. I hope you're getting far enough away from the Blue Nazi Commies - NJ is, in many ways, even worse than NYC. Good luck.
Thank you for this tribute to the fine and wonderful place that was. I enjoyed my formative years in New York City's glorious '60s & '70s. You highlighted many causes of the rot. Yet, the root cause is a software bug in the human mind that internalizes media messages as true reality. As "you" warned us many decades ago, evil will take advantage of this bug. Evil foisted TDS and the other delusions upon good souls who lost their way. I mourn this loss every day.