Rules for Radicals, anyone?

by infinity3 | 10:05 pm, September 30, 2009 | Comments Off

After being on the waiting list for awhile, I checked out Rules for Radicals, by Saul Alinsky from the Denver Public Library. Even after a few pages into it, I felt Alinsky held a dim and grim view of life in the free world. In his view, the only way to achieve the so-called ruse of the American Dream is not to pursue and work hard for it, but to take it from others.

Some notable and telling quotes:

Page 61-under the Ego subheading

"The ego of the organizer is stronger and more monumental than the ego of the leader. The leader is driven by the desire for power, while the organizer is driven by the desire to create. The organizer is in a true sense reaching for the highest level for which man can reach - to create, to be a 'great creator,' to play God."

So a community organizer is on par with playing God- is that what I'm hearing?

The ego section ends on page 61 with this gem.

"Ego must be all-pervading that the personality of the organizer is contagious, that it converts the people from despair to defiance, creating a mass ego."

These quotes speak to the influence that Saul Alinksy's philosophy had on a young Barack Obama. This strategy has been successful in getting him elected to the highest office in the U.S. as leader of the free world. Millions of people have been mesmerized by his cult of personality and massive ego and thus easily falling into groupthink. His stage persona has succeeded in getting the masses to forgo their critical thinking skills and ignoring or glossing over the implications of his message.

There is a lot about "change" in this book, but not a lot about hope. I found the tone of this book, in a word, bitter. It pits one side against the other; specifically, the Haves and Have Nots. It is not about the power of persuasion with Alinsky, but about the persuasion of power. The "let's start a revolution" talk is almost juvenile and I can see why it appeals to the uninformed, less-educated, younger generation who have glamorized the hippie protest culture of the sixties. Let's stick it to the man, man.

A couple more quotes: Alinksy comments on power on page 51.

"The corruption of power is not in the power, but in ourselves."

What about that oft used axiom? - "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Page 195
"Corporations must forget their nonsense about 'private sectors.'"

Private sectors organized from free-enterprising individuals to make money is nonsense to the Have Nots in Alinsky's world. Didn't you know you're a victim of the system? I can't help but indulge with the sarcasm as this book emitted lots of groans and eye-rolling.

Page 196 concerning the private sector.
"corporation - predatory drive for profits should be concerning themselves with poverty, disease, crime."

So what's the point? Bottom up prosperity? Can pigs fly? Help others before you help yourself? Don't the flight attendants tell you to put on your oxygen mask first before you assist others? Production precedes consumption anyone?

This book is worth reading and analyzing how Alinsky has influenced the Obama doctrine. Unfortunately, it flies in the face of the abundance of prosperity and concept of freedom known as American Exceptionalism.

Comments

Praise for PPC From Our Lefty "Fan"

• "Zany-ass bombast-entertainment...Hackneyed weirdo communist pseudo-nostalgia" --Alan Franklin, ProgressNow

Featured Posts

• Rising Oil Production in Alberta: More Evidence Disproving Hubbert’s Peak

  In today’s environment it’s hard to find good news. But this is good news: the free market is working, and putting statists’ predictions, like Hubbert’s, to shame. Oh, the joy!

• Regulatory Agencies Continue to Slow the Economy
• Printing Money Doesn’t Work in Britain Either
• Oklahoma’s Constitutional Amendment Would Pit Taxpayers Against Unions
• Friday’s Unemployment Numbers: Correcting the Corrections
• Romney Woos Grand Junction, Earns Sen. King’s Endorsement
• The Borking of Netflix: movie service finds privacy law to be an inconvenience