skip to main | skip to sidebar

Goes To Twelve

Tuesday, February 20, 2007


Posted by Jeff at Tuesday, February 20, 2007

No comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home
View mobile version
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

ShareThis


Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

    follow me on Twitter


    Followers

    Alinsky's Rules For Radicals

    Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

    Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.

    Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.

    Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. “You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”

    Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

    Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. “If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”

    Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.

    Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this that will cause the opposition to react to your advantage.”

    Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O’Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization. They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied. Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city’s reputation.

    Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”

    Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.

    About Me

    My photo
    Jeff
    View my complete profile

    Links

    • 538 - Projections
    • Andrew Sullivan
    • FML
    • Freedom From Religion
    • Instaputz
    • James Wolcott
    • Jesus' General
    • Kevin Drum
    • Marc Ambinder
    • Politco.com
    • Political Animal
    • Political Wire
    • Pollster.com
    • Real Clear Politics
    • T.Y.W.K.I.W.D.B.I.
    • The Daily Beast
    • The Daily Kos
    • The Huffington Post
    • The Washington Note
    • Think Progress
    • Tlhe Raw Story

    Blog Archive

    • ►  2020 (1)
      • ►  July (1)
    • ►  2018 (2)
      • ►  December (1)
      • ►  March (1)
    • ►  2016 (2)
      • ►  November (1)
      • ►  March (1)
    • ►  2010 (22)
      • ►  February (3)
      • ►  January (19)
    • ►  2009 (1389)
      • ►  December (71)
      • ►  November (46)
      • ►  October (70)
      • ►  September (51)
      • ►  August (78)
      • ►  July (83)
      • ►  June (129)
      • ►  May (151)
      • ►  April (186)
      • ►  March (198)
      • ►  February (170)
      • ►  January (156)
    • ►  2008 (2205)
      • ►  December (196)
      • ►  November (144)
      • ►  October (318)
      • ►  September (306)
      • ►  August (273)
      • ►  July (175)
      • ►  June (214)
      • ►  May (242)
      • ►  April (128)
      • ►  March (62)
      • ►  February (58)
      • ►  January (89)
    • ▼  2007 (852)
      • ►  December (53)
      • ►  November (89)
      • ►  October (65)
      • ►  September (34)
      • ►  August (59)
      • ►  July (69)
      • ►  June (36)
      • ►  May (83)
      • ►  April (74)
      • ►  March (96)
      • ▼  February (74)
        • Awww Mom!
        • Looking For America's Next Black President
        • You Don't Think That They Love Bullying More Than ...
        • Chi-Town Shocker
        • Just In Case You Wondered
        • Can't We All Just Get Along?
        • Ahistorical Agent
        • The New Bush Doctrine
        • Democratic Values
        • Oscars Reveal Widening Gap Between Best, Worst Dre...
        • Just Like Ozzie And Harriet
        • No Truth Is Inconvenient, Just Propaganda
        • Oscar Stuff
        • Yo, Dog
        • "Try The Cock, You Know Where It's Been"
        • From Wyoming A Vision Of The Future
        • Mr. T.W. Says That You Need To Watch This
        • It's Official!
        • Which Reminds Me ...
        • What We Can Work On After We Get Done With Keeping...
        • No title
        • No title
        • No title
        • And What Exactly Are The Bush Twins Doing?
        • Rape: What Ya Gotta Do.
        • Can I See Some Numbers On This?
        • 01/20/09 Is A Long Time From Now
        • Oh Thanks, Just Thanks So Much
        • As Hardaway As He (Or You) Wants To Be
        • Now We'll Get Ours
        • A TurboDog For Me, Please
        • Stupid Is Always More Dangerous Than Deceit
        • Orwell Had No Imagination
        • 200 More 'Special Comments' In Our Future
        • Tell It To Goebbels
        • Warning Signs
        • Slam Dunk!
        • Jesus' Love
        • Von Der Grossen Apfel
        • A Sort Of Appreciation
        • Meanwhile, Back At CNN
        • Insane MF
        • Never Forget
        • A Thought From Springfield IL
        • So, It's Not About You?
        • On Message
        • Out Of The Pocket
        • Clintonesque?
        • O, Carol
        • From Lincoln's Paper
        • What Will Murdoch Do?
        • To Do List
        • Less Is More
        • Pass The Torch
        • Who's Elite?
        • Look To Africa
        • Ted's Quest
        • The March Of History
        • You Go Girl!
        • Ted's Query
        • Dirty
        • Not Clean
        • Like I Said
        • Who Knew?
        • How To Get Clean
        • Clean Too
        • ... And Furthermore
        • F@#%$*G Morning
        • Clean
        • How Bad Is It For Republicans?
        • Funny, If Not So So Sad
        • Hell Maybe Safer
        • Oh Hell
        • Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
      • ►  January (120)
    • ►  2006 (961)
      • ►  December (133)
      • ►  November (141)
      • ►  October (95)
      • ►  September (87)
      • ►  August (67)
      • ►  July (81)
      • ►  June (123)
      • ►  May (97)
      • ►  April (27)
      • ►  March (56)
      • ►  February (54)