In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a US& German political cultists, Lyndon LaRouche and Helga Zepp-LaRouche. They're best-known for running the far-right, cult-like LaRouche movement, and for promoting conspiracy theories as well as pro-Kremlin and pro-CCP narratives.
1/22
Most of the ideas of Helga come from her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche. Initially, LaRouche movement was inspired by Trotskyist/Marxist ideas, opposing private ownership and such, but in the late 1970s these ideas were abandoned. As often happens with radical, cult-like...
2/22
...movements, Lyndon started promoting the Leninist idea of the intellectuals (including himself, of course) being the "vanguard" that helps the working class to develop their consciousness as their leading role in the society.
3/22
LaRouche movement claims that the world has been under the rule of British Empire for the last 600 years, and this epoch is now ending and we are moving towards a "multipolar world".
At some point during the 70s the movement started flirting with the far-right, and the...
4/22
...long-time critics Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons wrote that the "LaRouchites combined populist antielitism with attacks on leftists, environmentalists, feminists, gay men and lesbians, and organized labor. They advocated a dictatorship in which a 'humanist' elite...
5/22
...would rule on behalf of industrial capitalists." They've also been described as staunch anti-Semites.
Lyndon ran for US president in every presidential election between 1976-2004. From 1989 until 1994, Lyndon spent behind bars for tax and mail fraud, and he ran one of..
6/22
...his presidential campaign from prison. So basically, the LaRouche cult is a horseshoe-shaped amalgamate of the far-left and far-right, combined with futurism like the high-speed maglev train that'll "re-invigorate industry and commerce", fusion power and the...
7/22
..."Verdi tuning", in which A=432 Hz, as opposed to the common practice today of tuning to A=440 Hz in classical music. According to Lyndon, this had a direct relation to the structure of the universe. I know, it's weird cultist stuff.
8/22
Lyndon's wife, Helga, established the Schiller Institute in 1984. The organization fights against "international financial institutions and other supranational bodies (without naming any)" and against their "tyranny".
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The main idea behind the institute is to "unite left and right" to "fight a common enemy", and this rhetoric has been copied by other pro-Kremlin propaganda outlets, too. In 2003, Schiller came under scrutiny after one of their "students" died in a freak accident.
10/22
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Ukraine, Schiller Institute argued that the sanctions against Russia should be relieved, and that all other countries should stop their support for Ukraine. They also stated that Ukraine should accede to all Russian demands.
11/22
Few days after Russia's attack,she appeared on Chinese CGTN,where he touted that Russia is simply reacting to endless provocations by NATO & the West.She's also given interviews to TASS,in which she praises the "Global South" for their efforts to end the "US/UK imperialism".12/22
Schillerites are very active bunch, and they hold regular conferences around the world. They've hosted many prominent speakers, including Jeremy Corbyn in 2015. Trump's former campaign adviser Roger Stone has also been cooperating with the institute.
13/22
The group has other front organizations too, which are used to spread its core message. These include Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), LaRouchePAC, ICLC, LaRouche Youth Movement, and Fusion Energy Foundation.
14/22
After the war started, Zepp-LaRouche was interviewed by Mira Terada from the Prigozhin-ran sham organization called Foundation to Battle Injustice (FBI!). In this extremely biased propaganda show they discussed the "end of the Anglo-American hegemony", spread conspiracy...
15/22
..theories and lies, and of course defame Ukraine and praise Russia. Terada, whose real name is Oksana Vovk, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2020 for money laundering in the US, and was later transformed into a propaganda weapon by Yevgeni Prigozhin.
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In 2015, Zepp-LaRouhe wrote an article which described climate change as a "satanic swindle" attempting to establish "a global eco-dictatorship whose results, and whose declared intention is to eliminate six billion human beings."
17/22
She claimed that there's a plan to create "a fascist world government which would exceed Hitler’s most audacious dreams". Lyndon LaRouche has also claimed that the 9/11 was orchestrated by Queen Elizabeth II together with the Saudis.
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In 2018, the LaRouche posse have advocated a theory that it was actually the UK that interfered with 2016 US election, not Russia. They also have good relations with many prominent Russian politicians, including Sergey Glazyev, who was funding the pro-Russia...
19/22
...movement in Ukraine since 2014, and some of its former members including William Engdahl, have migrated to Duginist circles. In Feb 2023, she was one of the unannounced speakers at the "antiwar" event Rage Against the War Machine. Schiller Institute was also sponsoring..
20/22
...the event, like it did with the UK event No2Nato. Especially the former event was the embodiment of the horseshoe theory, with people attending from the far corners of the left and right, including Jimmy Dore, Jackson "Z" Hinkle, The Oathkeepers and Caleb Maupin.
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To conclude, LaRouche is a cult-like organization that tries to promote pro-Kremlin and pro-CCP worldviews around the world. A large part of the "multipolar world" narrative comes from this lot, and especially Helga has been staunch supporter of Russia.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
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Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text:
In today’s Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.
1/20
Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.
2/20
Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
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There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
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Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.