My friend writes the following on an unnamed FB thread:
I've seen copious attacks on the famous radical operative named Saul Alinsky. Most of the attacks charge him as being a communist, meant in the worst sense. I've gone to some trouble to validate those attacks and was surprised to find that he never associated himself with any political party, instead he worked to empower the little guy against those who were wallowing in power.
That cuts in several ways, useful to the Democrat, the Republican, and the Independent. Alinsky did not join political parties. When asked during an interview whether he ever considered becoming a Communist Party member, he replied:
"Not at any time. I've never joined any organization—not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it's Christianity or Marxism. One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as 'that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you're right."
If you don't have that, if you think you've got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated.
The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics, from the persecutions of the Inquisition on down to Communist purges and Nazi genocide."
See his famous Rules for Radicals (the correct version - important because there are many counterfeit version) here:
“Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
- “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
- “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
- “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
- “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
- “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
- “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
- “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
- “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
- "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition." It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
- “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
- “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
- “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
While trying to avoid my tendency to make things too complicated, I think I will draw upon my experiences as a coach and attempt to apply them into the model of politics. Consider that the system we have openly incents people to be horrible. It is well known that negativity wins campaigns.
KSpect's Evolving Rules for Reformers ---
- Every movement, every ideology has a blindspot
- It is easier to see the blind spot of your opponent, than your own, but if you search hard enough, you will see that more often than not, your opponent is your reflection.
- The point of activism is development of self and if the world happens to benefit, great. Those active in removing government rules are in reality removing their own mental chains - they must understand not all have yet been released from their own mental prison.
- For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Everything has a cost. Every movement will turn from its first principles the more members it attracts.
- Thus the only things to attempt to put in place must be balanced as possible - reconciling as many views to find the common thread. A number of proposals will follow.
- First, let's draw upon the example of Upton Sinclair and Roosevelt -- what Sinclair desired to happen, an improvement in working conditions, resulted in people getting upset about their meat!
- For people to connect with a message, it must be balanced and honest. Those with that type of energy seem to not be as motivated by their lower passions. The trade of politics currently involves igniting the lower passions of the extreme pockets of various mindsets on each side. It has been said that the powers that be use this knowledge to play us against one another. Similar to the rule of for every action there being an equal and opposite reaction, for every unbalanced perspective, there is its opposite. Of course, this can not be proven, but is a matter of intuition. It is like observing the motion of clouds and the interaction of heat, cold, warm, and dry. We can predict that certain combinations may result in a storm, but we may not be able to predict the size or potency of such storm with certainty.
- Heart felt, 'inspired', honest, polite, firm, hand-written letters written letters are powerful - if written with a man's hand, they should have the benefit of a wise consult with one's wife on wording, and vice versa.
- To engage the power of the natural laws, one's perspective and motivations must be pure and whole as possible, for whatever is incomplete will be eventually corrected. Despite their personal failings, examples of those who learned to use these principles include Ghandi, MLK, and others. See the example of Upton Sinclair.
- Movements have a time and a place - in order to grow, new joiners must be viewed as co-owners.
- Movements will invariably attract bad actors and their few incidents can become the face for a movement in the eye of the public.