By Eleanore Jones
Spring Valley, MN
Saul Alinsky died almost 50 years ago, but his writings influenced many of those in political control of our nation today. Obama taught students the Alinsky Principles when he was a professor at the University of Chicago Law School and even wrote about Alinsky in his books. Hillary Clinton wrote her college thesis on Alinsky’s writings. Alinsky includes a written dedication to Lucifer (Satan), in his book Rules for Radicals. In Rules for Radicals, he describes in detail the 12 rules that radical activists must use to accomplish their agenda. As follows:
RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from two main sources – money and people. Have-Nots must build power from flesh and blood. (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. (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. (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. (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 concession. (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 are no different than any other human being. We all avoid “unfun” activities, and 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. (To keep radicals 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 from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and restrategize.)
RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists’ minds. Organizations will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst 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. (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. (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.
Kindra Ramaker says
I don’t believe militant Catholicism serves either God or society. My sincere wish, both from a spiritual perspective and a societal perspective, is that militant Catholics would reconsider listening more deeply to the current pope, who they seem to conveniently ignore.
Amanda Sanchez says
No Kendra it’s you who conveniently slobber over our fascist communist pope. The same one who turned in underground priest to the Communist regime of China. The same one that protected pedophiles in our church including in South Dakota as well as Theodore McCarrick and all the rest of them. And the same one that shut down Philadelphia’s monastery. The only militant are your communist fascist Kendra you are nothing but a threat to this world. And that includes your support for slaughtering innocent unborn babies The blood is on your hands Kendra and you’re worried about church militants who aren’t committing violence you filthy liar you took that right out of the book of Saul alinski.
Ralph Benko says
Rules for Radicals was dedicated to Irene (Saul’s wife), not Lucifer. There are also three epigrams (not dedications), one from a rabbi and one from Tom Paine condemning deviltry, and an “over the shoulder” shout out to Lucifer. (Both John Calvin and Marin Luther wrote that Lucifer was not Satan.) Both Barack Obama and Hilary Rodham repudiated Alinsky, choosing to work inside the system rather than applying outside community pressure, which was Alinsky’s metier. There are 13 rules, not 12.
Ms. Jones should do her homework before blogging.
Anonymous says
Democrats are Satan’s children
Jon says
Interestingly, I see Trump implement these rules regularly.
That said, here’s an interesting article about Saul Alinsky: https://www-vox-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2014/10/6/6829675/saul-alinsky-explain-obama-hillary-clinton-rodham-organizing?amp_js_v=a2&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=16001899666279&_ct=1600189970504&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2014%2F10%2F6%2F6829675%2Fsaul-alinsky-explain-obama-hillary-clinton-rodham-organizing