annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
Finished the book. At the risk of oversimplification, Alinsky ends with his eventual understanding that mobilizing the middle class was a bigger opportunity than mobilizing the poor, and while he was optimistic such a thing would come about, he saw the equal possibility it wouldn't happen. And I don't think it ever did, at least not in the way he envisioned. More on that below. (Interestingly, he said it was a mistake for radicals to have rejected middle class values, because now he saw its potential due to its sheer size.) I think though, he overestimated the middle class's general unhappiness and underestimated their apathy. He'd divided society into Haves, Have Nots, and Have a Little, Want More, but maybe there was a fourth group, solidly in the large middle class he'd rejected to that point: Have Enough, That's All I Care About. Apathy is tough to shake.
But he made an observation that looks pretty much on target if you look at our current political polarity. When the middle class turns restive, unhappy with its current situation, looking for someone to blame, he anticipates they will
". . . . turn to an extreme chauvinism and become defenders of the "American" faith. Now they even develop rationalizations for a life of futility and frustration. 'It's the Red menace!' Now they are not only the most vociferous in their espousal of law and order but ripe victims for such as demagogic George Wallace, the John Birch Society, and the Red-menace perennials. Insecure in this fast-changing world, they cling to illusory fixed points - which are very real to them. Even conversation is charted toward fixing your position in the world; 'I don't want to argue with you, just tell me what our flag means to you?' or 'What do you think of those college punks who never worked a day in their lives?' . . . ."
So maybe - radical right-wing community organizers, starting with right-wing talk radio in the 90s, the Tea Party in the 2000s, and the MAGA Trump base of today, beat Alinsky at his own game.
But he made an observation that looks pretty much on target if you look at our current political polarity. When the middle class turns restive, unhappy with its current situation, looking for someone to blame, he anticipates they will
". . . . turn to an extreme chauvinism and become defenders of the "American" faith. Now they even develop rationalizations for a life of futility and frustration. 'It's the Red menace!' Now they are not only the most vociferous in their espousal of law and order but ripe victims for such as demagogic George Wallace, the John Birch Society, and the Red-menace perennials. Insecure in this fast-changing world, they cling to illusory fixed points - which are very real to them. Even conversation is charted toward fixing your position in the world; 'I don't want to argue with you, just tell me what our flag means to you?' or 'What do you think of those college punks who never worked a day in their lives?' . . . ."
So maybe - radical right-wing community organizers, starting with right-wing talk radio in the 90s, the Tea Party in the 2000s, and the MAGA Trump base of today, beat Alinsky at his own game.
