Rules for Radicals
By: Rev. Pierre Bynum
Dear Praying Friends,
David Horowitz was one of the founders of the New Left in the 1960s and an
editor of Ramparts Magazine.
Years later and somewhat wiser, he founded the
It is no secret that Saul
Alinsky's manual for "community organizers"—Rules for Radicals—exerted
immeasurable influence over the world's most recognized community organizer,
President Barack Obama. Below are six "rules" that Saul Alinsky, the Godfather
of community organizing, packed in his famous book, rules Obama wholly believed
and taught to his students at
(1)
Politics
is all about power
relations, but to advance one's power, one must couch one's positions in the
language of morality.
Community organizers are
"political realists" who "see the world as it is: an arena of power politics
moved primarily by perceived immediate self-interests, where morality is
rhetorical rationale for expedient action and self-interest" (12).
(2)
There are only
three kinds of people in the world: rich and powerful oppressors, the poor and
disenfranchised oppressed, and the middle-class whose apathy perpetuates the
status quo.
"The world ... consists of but
three kinds of people: "the Haves, the Have-Nots, and the Have-a-Little, Want
Mores." The Haves, resist the "change" necessary to relieve the Have-Nots of
their suffering (18). He calls the middle class "Do nothings," and as resistant
to change as the Haves.
(3)
Change is brought
about through relentless agitation and "trouble making" of a kind that radically
disrupts society as it is.
Since neither the middle nor
upper classes have his passion for radical change, the organizer must "stir up
dissatisfaction and discontent." He must "agitate to the point of conflict,"
"dramatize...injustices" and engage in "'trouble making' by stirring up...
angers, frustrations, and resentments" (117) that will hasten "disorganization
of the old and organization of the new" (116). He should introduce as much
"confusion" and "fear" as possible (127).
(4)
There can be no
conversation between the organizer and his opponents. The latter must be
depicted as being evil.
"You don't communicate with anyone purely on the rational facts or ethics of an
issue" (89). "Moral rationalization is indispensable," (43) the organizer must
"clothe" his goals and strategies with "moral arguments" (36). No conversation
with one's opponents. To converse with them is to humanize them. "Men will act
when they are convinced that their cause is 100 per cent on the side of the
angels and that the opposition [is] 100 per cent on the side of the devil."
"There can be no action until issues are polarized to this degree" (130).
(5)
The organizer can never focus on just a single issue. He must move inexhaustibly
from one issue to the next.
The organizer "must develop
multiple issues" (76, 78). "A single issue is a fatal strait jacket
that...drastically limits" the organizer's "appeal," but "multiple issues...draw
in...many potential members essential to the building of a broad, mass-based
organization" (120). "Keep the action going" by "constantly cutting new issues
so that by the time the enthusiasm and the emotions for one issue de-escalate, a
new issue has emerged" (161).
(6)
Taunt one's
opponents to the point that they label you a "dangerous enemy" of "the
establishment."
Finally, in order "to put the
organizer on the side of the people, to identify him with the Have-Nots," it is
imperative that he "maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly
attack him as a 'dangerous enemy'" (100).
The administration faces a formidable, organized movement that will persist in using tried revolutionary strategies and tactics to undermine the new president. The liberal press is marching in lockstep. But an army of praying men and women -- far more devoted than paid stooges used to tear down our Republic -- will plead with God to subdue every scheme to overthrow our nation! Prevailing prayer and responsible action are the "Standard" God will use (Is 59:19b) (Jack Kerwick, Front Page Magazine, April, 2013; Download: Horowitz, Rules for Revolution).