New issues and crises are always developing, and one’s reaction becomes, “Well, my heart bleeds for those people and I’m all for the boycott, but after all, there are other important things in life”-and there it goes.Ĩ. ‘ A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.’ Man can sustain militant interest in any issue for only a limited time, after which it becomes a ritualistic commitment, like going to church on Sunday mornings. ‘ A good tactic is one your people enjoy.’ If your people are not having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.ħ. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.Ħ. ’ It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. ‘ Make the enemy live up to its 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.ĥ. ‘ Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.’ Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.Ĥ. ‘Never go outside the expertise of your people.’ the result is confusion, fear, and retreat.ģ. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.Ģ.

‘ Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.’ Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. Here they are with some of his additional notes:ġ. Perhaps the most enduring part of the book is Alinsky’s 13 rules for radicals. Naturally, it was heavily used by the countercultural movement in the 1970s but has increasingly been used in mainstream political campaigns. The book goes on to give lessons on how to take power away from the ‘haves’. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.’

The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power.

‘WHAT FOLLOWS IS for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be.

The basic philosophy was to give power to the have-nots. He is thought to be the founder of modern community organizing and wrote one of the most influential works on setting up grassroots movements: the 1971 book Rules For Radicals. Yet many people have never heard of the American Saul Alinsky. And grassroots movements, from both the left and now the right, treat his work as the template for action. Hilary Clinton wrote her thesis on his work. Barack Obama used the ideas on his path to the US presidency.

Rules for radicals by saul d alinsky