An industry based on threat inflation and lies

From SPLC to FSB, imagining threats is about profit and power

J Michael Waller @JMichaelWaller

The ‘extremism’ industry has infiltrated the national security establishment, viewing half of Americans as domestic enemies.

dailycaller.com‘They Created An Industry’: How Leftists Gaslight Americans On ExtremismThe word "extremism" is losing all meaning, as left wing media and activists are employing it to smear political opponents who hold opinions they don't like.

Рафис Кашапов @Rafis_Kashapov

Бөтентатар иҗтимагый үзәге Русиянең экстремист оешмалар исемлегенә кертелде

azatliq.orgБөтентатар иҗтимагый үзәге Русиянең экстремист оешмалар исемлегенә кертелдеБөтентатар иҗтимагый үзәге Русия юстиция министрлыгының экстремист оешмалар исемлегенә кертелде. Ул хакта бүген Федераль иминлек хезмәтенең Татарстан буенча идарәсе хәбәр итте.

There has been much talk on how leftist NGOs, which typically use dishonest tactics, have influenced some national security circles on extremism, portraying anyone to their Right as an “extremist” threat to American society. It amounts to the dehumanisation of half the American population for holding a different opinion, eerily reminiscent of Russian state tactics against foreign countries and domestic opponents.

As mentioned here and elsewhere, this runs throughout the entire web of leftist NGOs because they recruit from the same pool of talent, and many have worked for than one. So there’s a high degree of similarity, an ironic homogeneity, of the type of people you find working in these groups - dishonest and greedy, while claiming to promote “equality” they are often motivated by money and influence. And this is what drives the threat inflation.

The SPLC’s list of “hate groups” is the most notorious example of this. The list smears a host of conservative and patriotic American groups and individuals, which has placed many of these people in danger. Even its listing of white nationalist and black nationalist groups has been sloppy because it exaggerates their presence in American society - very few such groups have any kind of structure or effective leadership.

All this has helped make the SPLC one of the riches nonprofit organisations, with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. In 2019, SPLC founder Morris Dees was forced out of the organisation after revelations of an abusive work culture and personal conduct which had long been an open secret. Somehow this hasn’t stopped politicians and media from using the SPLC as a source, no matter how disreputable.

These tactics are eerily similar to Russian state agencies such as the FSB, who monitor so-called “extremists”, which really means any political group whose line dissents from the Putin regime line. It’s an even more inclusive list than American ones - opponents spanning the entire spectrum, including right-wing Russian nationalists and ethnic minority nationalists, and adherents of alternative Orthodox churches.

The SPLC and FSB of course have similar methods because they are basically Soviet methods. Soviet infiltrators no doubt influenced the tactics of the American Left, teaching them the tactics we see today.