Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals Offers Atheist Activists Ideas for Progress
By Austin Cline, About.com Guide
As a community organizer and political activist, Saul
Alinsky played a pivotal role in the growth of grass roots organizing
and activism in modern America. Saul Alinsky argued for transforming the
poor and powerless from passive observers into activists with a vested
interest in what happens around them. Alinsky summarized his ideas into
what he called the "Rules for Radicals." Atheists should learn from
these rules for their own activism. What we want shouldn't be radical,
but sadly is, so radical activists from past movements can teach us a
lot about what is successful, what is counter-productive, and why.
1. What Is an Atheist Radical?
A
radical seeks fundamental changes in political, social, economic, or
cultural institutions and power relationships. Since atheism doesn't
imply any particular political outlook and is compatible with just about
any system, it's a bit difficult to talk sensibly about atheist
radicals. However, when the subject turns to the elimination of
anti-atheist bigotry and religious privilege, then it must be admitted
that Liberation Atheology will require a lot of fundamental changes in a
lot of different institutions, traditions, assumptions, and power
relationships. Any atheist working towards such goals is thus
necessarily an atheist radical and if they want to be effective they
should learn from the successful radicals of the past.
2. Power is Both Fact and Perception
"Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have." Atheists
often lament their lack of organization and numbers, even going so far
as to use this as a reason why they can't bring pressure against
politicians and private organizations. The Christian Right, in contrast,
frequently portrays secular atheists as if they were a powerful,
dangerous force in American society. Power is as much about perception
as it is about facts: when people perceive that you are powerful, you are
powerful. If the Christian Right is going to lie about us, why not
encourage the perception that we are indeed powerful. They can't deny it
without admitting to lying; if they confirm it, they only make our job
easier.
3. Stick With What You Know
"Never go outside the expertise of your people." This
is good advice in all fields of endeavor: you'll accomplish more and be
more comfortable when you're on familiar ground. Scientists on your
team should provide scientific expertise and arguments; accountants on
your team should provide accounting and financial help; artists on your
team should help with design and artwork. If you ask the accountant to
stand in a scientific debate, the artist to balance the books, and the
scientist to draw cartoons, you may be asking people to go too far
outside their expertise to be either successful or comfortable. The best
way to accomplish your goals is to have people focus on what they do
best and work in a comfortable environment.
4. Surprise Your Opponents
"Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." If
it helps you, it might help your opponent as well, so find a way to
undermine it. Don't let you opponent's job get easier by allowing them
to be at ease and feel secure. Go after them in unexpected ways that
they aren't prepared to counter; not only will their reactions be weak,
but the general anxiety and insecurity you create will help you overall.
The paradigmatic example of this tactic in action is Sherman's March
during the Civil War: by attacking in an unexpected way that no one was
prepared for, he not only did a lot of direct damage against the South
but also sowed fear and anxiety all over. If you only do what's
expected, you chances of success dwindle.
5. Use Your Opponents' Rules Against Them
"Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." If
you opponent has internal rules that are difficult or impossible to
live up to when taken to an extreme, then exploit that mercilessly.
Their failure may not benefit you directly, but you can make them look
bad for not living up to their own standards and this will help you in
the long run. If a Christian Right organization offers free material to
anyone who asks, get thousands to ask (and be sure to recycle it all).
Take postage-paid envelopes and use them for other purposes — like
donating money to different organizations. If a church is giving out
free gifts to new visitors, organize several hundred people to visit
then find a needy recipient for those gifts.
6. Use Ridicule and Mockery
"Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." The tactic that people seem to complain most about is also one that can be most effective... if
used well. First, satirists have known for centuries that humor,
satire, and mockery can cut through a lot of BS and reveal truths that
would otherwise be covered over by needlessly complex arguments. Getting
your message across quickly and simply counts for a lot. Second, the
more you encourage people to laugh derisively at some organization or
institution, the less they will take it seriously. This will reduce that
group's social, political, and cultural power over time. Third, it's
difficult to effectively counter ridicule. It's not amenable to logical
counter-arguments. Finally, ridicule might make your opponent lose their
cool, scoring you sympathy points in the court of public opinion. Key
in all of this, though, is that the ridicule be done well. Poorly
executed, it will backfire (and that's admittedly a risk even under the
best of circumstances).
7. Find Tactics and Methods People Enjoy
"A good tactic is one your people enjoy." Your
cause has a lot of competition for people's time and attention so you
can't afford to give anyone a reason to divert their attention
elsewhere. Activists who are bored or stressed will soon find more
enjoyable things to do with their time. The more enjoyable your activism
is, the more likely supporters will come back on their own without any
prodding from you. Sometimes this can only be accomplished by ensuring
that you have a pleasant atmosphere for jobs that aren't fun in and of
themselves. Sometimes this means thinking creatively to come up with
tasks that can be both fun and productive at the same time. People
having fun and who want to be there will be more productive and
efficient.
8. Tactics and Projects Should Not Drag On Too Long
"A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag." People
today have short attention spans and they're getting shorter,
especially among the youth who have always been the best recruiting
ground for activists. It's tough to keep people's attention focused on a
tactic or task for very long and it's even harder when people are
expected to sustain some level of passionate zeal. While the ultimate
goal of the organization may be a long way off, you need to be able to
set short-term goals. This gives people repeated senses of
accomplishment, offers a chance for a break between activities, and
encourages creativity in coming up with new tasks. All of this will help
activists maintain their commitment to and interest in the
organization.
9. Keep Up the Pressure; Never Grow Complacent
"Keep the pressure on. Never let up." Always
trying new things will not only help maintain the interest of your own
people, but also help maintain pressure on your opponents, keeping them
off balance. Whenever they seem to have figured out how best to counter
something you're doing, switch to something completely different. Never
assume that if you keep doing the same thing you'll get anywhere. Never
assume that your opponents are feeling the sort of pressure you want
them to feel. You have to keep pushing and moving forward; if you aren't
moving forward, you're ultimately losing the conflict. You have to be
on the offensive, forcing them to be defensive and react to you. You must define the nature and terms of the conflict.
10. Threats Are Worse Than Reality
"The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself." There is nothing you can do to your opponent that is as bad as, never mind worse than, what they imagine you can do. As with power, perception is reality: it is better to make your opponents fear what you might
do than to actually take action and reveal that the reality isn't as
bad as they imagined. Let their imaginations run away with them. Let
them do your work for you by worrying about how you'll go after them
next. Get them to invest time, money, and effort into preparing for
worst case scenarios that you can't or don't intend to initiate. Let
them become demoralized by their own fears while you achieve victory
with as little effort as possible. Practice political judo.
11. Find Ways to Turn Negatives Into Positives
"If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive." You
can't win every battle, but you also need to avoid admitting to having
lost any battles. Losing can breed an attitude that you're losers;
winning can breed the attitude that your winners. So, whatever happens,
you need to find ways to turn losses into victories. A good example of
this is how unions and the Civil Rights movement used violence against
them to turn public opinion in their favor. The violence obviously hurt
them, but the gains in public opinion transformed the negatives into
positives. Hopefully you won't face that kind of violence, but the
principle remains the same: don't let negatives remain negatives, lest
they bring you down.
12. Target People First, Organizations and Institutions Second
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." This
may be unpleasant and uncomfortable, but it is effective. Faceless,
impersonal organizations are poor targets because it's hard to make them
an enemy that arouses strong emotions. Activism is easier when the
enemy has a face — a person to focus outrage and anger against. Focus on
the CEO of a corporation rather than the corporation itself or the
mayor instead of "city hall." They aren't the only guilty party, but
others will reveal themselves when they come out to defend the person
you target. Don't send mixed messages: freeze them in people's minds as
the enemy that you either oppose in the name of justice or support in
the name of oppression.
13. Remember to Prepare Solutions In Case You're Successful
"The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative." Victory
should be your best-case scenario, not your worst-case scenario, but
that's what will happen if you aren't prepared with some solutions and
compromises. You could hand your opponents their own victory if they
come to you and say "We admit you're right but we don't know what to do.
Tell us how us how to solve it." Without good suggestions, you can be
painted as whiners who complain without having any idea of how to make
things better. Why are you even involved in activism if you have no
ideas for solutions to the problems that bother you? If your goal is to
have a place at the table, you need a list of solutions and compromises
when they offer you a chair.
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