AkPapaGanja
Member
Cut and paste is SOP here so here goes nothing. Saul Alinsky wrote a book called "Rules for Radicals." I don't claim to have read the book. Please note that. I did not read the book. With that in mind please enjoy the following short excerpt from said author. Many of you will see these rules in play on this very forum. The nature of liberals is to instinctively follow these rules, almost as if born with such knowledge. Rule 5 is very popular here and you may have noticed me reference it from time to time. I don't know if this list is complete as I have not finished researching them. Also, it is possible that there is some editorializing in parentheses which has been inserted for clarification of prior readers. It may be original. I do not know
And now, with credit to the original poster whoever that may be, here are Saul's Rules for Radicals. :
RULE 1: "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. (These are two things of which there is
a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost
exclusively with economic arguments.)
RULE 2: "Never go outside the expertise of your people." It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds
to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don't address the "real" issues. This is why.
They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)
RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and
uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly
irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)
RULE 4: "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. (This is a serious rule. The
besieged entity's very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its
commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)
RULE 5: "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. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger
and fear.)
RULE 6: "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. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other
human being. We all avoid "un-fun" activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)
RULE 7: "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag." Don't become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So
to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)
RULE 8: "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. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never
giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)
RULE 9: "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself." Imagination and ego can dream up many more
consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario,
something that may be furthest from the activists' minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time
and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and
result in demoralization.)
RULE 10: "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. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful
[albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management's wrath,
often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)
RULE 11: "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. (Old saw: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their
power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)
RULE 12: 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. (This is cruel, but very effective.
Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)
And now, with credit to the original poster whoever that may be, here are Saul's Rules for Radicals. :
RULE 1: "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. (These are two things of which there is
a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost
exclusively with economic arguments.)
RULE 2: "Never go outside the expertise of your people." It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds
to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals don't address the "real" issues. This is why.
They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)
RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and
uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly
irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)
RULE 4: "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. (This is a serious rule. The
besieged entity's very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its
commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)
RULE 5: "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. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger
and fear.)
RULE 6: "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. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other
human being. We all avoid "un-fun" activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)
RULE 7: "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag." Don't become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So
to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)
RULE 8: "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. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never
giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)
RULE 9: "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself." Imagination and ego can dream up many more
consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario,
something that may be furthest from the activists' minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time
and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and
result in demoralization.)
RULE 10: "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. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful
[albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management's wrath,
often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)
RULE 11: "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. (Old saw: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their
power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)
RULE 12: 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. (This is cruel, but very effective.
Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)
