Monday, January 23, 2012

Long time since I heard this name



Saul Alinsky:

Good Lord and the wacky sixties.  Saul is now being ran up the as a boogie man by the Republican scum that are currently trying to fellate us into voting for them.

Look go to the wiki article and read it and tell me what the hell is the matter with a country that is afraid of someone like this?  I think it is because he told people that they did not have to be in thrall to others.

Here are Alinsky's precepts in a couple of nutshell lists.  Now...go through these and tell which of these precepts are not in daily and ruthless use by those in power in the United States?

All Alinsky did was inform the underclass that the rules used by those in power were appropriate for use by those without power.  This concept gives the monied classes the heebie jeebies.  Because you see, the monied classes run first and foremost on the concept of privilege. (1)

You see, the powerful have never, ever wanted the less powerful to follow the same rule set used by in the daily lives of the powerful.  The purpose of obtaining high office and wealth is to exempt oneself from the petty rules and laws that restrict the hoi polloi.  Never, ever forget that one central fact.

And remember, if you were to find yourself magically in that position, you probably wouldn't act a damn bit different.

Rules for Power Tactics:

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
3. Whenever possible, go outside of the experience of the enemy.
4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
8. Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.


Rules to test whether power tactics are ethical:

1. One's concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one's personal interest in the issue.
2. The judgment of the ethics of means is dependent upon the political position of those sitting in judgment.
3. In war the end justifies almost any means.
4. Judgment must be made in the context of the times in which the action occurred and not from any other chronological vantage point.
5. Concern with ethics increases with the number of means available and vice versa.
6. The less important the end to be desired, the more one can afford to engage in ethical evaluations of means.
7. Generally, success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics.
8. The morality of means depends upon whether the means is being employed at a time of imminent defeat or imminent victory.
9. Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition to be unethical.
10. You do what you can with what you have and clothe it in moral garments.
11. Goals must be phrased in general terms like "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," "Of the Common Welfare," "Pursuit of Happiness," or "Bread and Peace."
(1)  From Old French privilège, from Latin privilegium an ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual; privus private + lexlegis, law.

2 comments:

russell1200 said...

Alinsky has a Chicago connection so it was natural for Glenn Beck to bring him up.

To my mind he is a bit of a monster, but you are also correct when you say that it is what those in power (usually)do.

Degringolade said...

Russell:

Monster? Really?

Please expand on this if you would be so kind. I would love to hear your reasoning. Comments here are cool, your blog would be better, I promise to link.

John