‘Rules for Radicals’

Oct 24, 2022
Oct 24, 2022 Updated Apr 13, 2025
8

Editor,

There was a once was a man named Saul Alinski. He wrote a book called “Rules for Radicals.”

(8) comments

edkahl Oct 24, 2022 9:11am

Thank you for you excellent letter. One of Alinsky's most politically divisive rules was to "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. (This is cruel but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)”

Does this sound like any politicians you know?

Tafhdyd Oct 24, 2022 4:07pm

Sounds like you are talking about Trump and his followers.

Ray Fowler Oct 24, 2022 4:27pm

Hey, buddy...

Go after people although doing so may be cruel but effective... direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works. Sounds more like cancel culture to me.

Tafhdyd Oct 24, 2022 8:01pm

Ray,

The cancel culture that I see most of the time is the "New" Republican party trying to cancel the culture of democracy.

Ray Fowler Oct 24, 2022 9:54pm

Tafhdydicus...

The cancel culture you see the most is "New" Republicans attacking democracy? I've gotta tell you... MTG no more represents conservatives than AOC speaks for liberals. They are niche politicians. I wish we could see Mr. McCarthy cancel Marjorie while at the same time Ms. Pelosi is cancelling Alexandria.

The overwhelming majority of cancel culture is coming from the left side of the aisle. I agree with Barack on this one... cancel culture is hurting the Democratic Party. It was only a matter of time before Dems starting cancelling other Dems. In your town... we've seen a sitting City Council member attacking a Council candidate who may not be woke enough to serve on the Council. Check out Saturday's LTE entitled "Vote to bring civility and good governance back to San Mateo."

craigwiesner Oct 24, 2022 12:30pm

Reuters already discredited everything written in this LTE. "False: Saul Alinsky did not draft an eight-step plan for world conquest, or the creation of a “social state”. These quotes attributed to him on social media are false."

Ray Fowler Oct 24, 2022 3:52pm

Hello, Craig

Let's separate the wheat from the chaff. The LTE attributes an eight step plan to create a socialist state to Saul Alinsky. You are correct in debunking that idea. From a quick look online, it appears those eight steps were articulated by an ultraconservative writer named Vassar Bushmills, and Bushmills connects those eight steps to Alinsky. However, it is true that Alinsky authored a book entitled, "Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals," in 1971. In the book, Alinsky suggested methods for organizing poorer peoples in cities to improve their lives.

The question for the LTE writer, Charles, does not appear to be why wouldn't we want to help marginalized persons. You and I agree that we should and I'm hoping the writer would agree with us. So, why has Charles tried to connect Saul Alinsky, who passed away 50 years ago, to what's going on in America today? Only Charles can answer that question. Charles... are you out there?

Tafhdyd Oct 24, 2022 4:42pm

Ray,

I am glad you took the time to check the info and refute the info in the LTE. It appears that Mr. Bonnici copied the list of what was an example of what is false about the Rules for Radicals in a Snopes article about the same. As you said, Alinsky favored helping the poor not making things harder for them.

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