Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Online Great Books Podcast


May 28, 2020

Scott and Karl are joined by Brett Veinotte, creator of the School Sucks Project, for a special two-part discussion on Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals. 

Divided into ten chapters, Rules for Radicals provides 10 lessons on how a community organizer can accomplish the goal of successfully uniting disenfranchised people with the power to effect change on a variety of issues. Alinsky also offers his list of 13 “Rules for Radicals," tactics which Karl calls "a poisoner's manual." 

Does this book promote disorder in society?

According to Brett, “You can give it an optimistic treatment like it’s real-world tactics for changing the status quo. More cynically, it’s a non-ideologically driven, slogan rich quest for power relying on ridicule and polarization happening in an environment where widespread rationality is not going to be a factor."

If that sounds like a lot to unpack, you are not mistaken. Tune in for part one of a revolutionary discussion on Alinsky's mass power organization and its ongoing application.