The Current Obama Administration - Essay Example

Applying Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals to The Current Obama Administration Within Alinsky's framework of the Rules for Radicals, there were three basic tenets that could help within the Obama Administration. These were that one must: make the opposition follow their own rules; find the target's vulnerability and exploit it; and make the opposition make their own mistakes on their own."1 "Rules for Radicals [was] written for the Have-Nots on how to take [power] away."2 Here those tenets will be explored which are supposed to help the Have-Nots take what is rightfully theirs: power. Alinksy believed that the people he was working with had no power in the community, but he sought to make that community heard. [Alinsky] believed that widespread poverty left America open to the influence of demagogues and that the only antidote was active, widespread participation in the political process[he] envisioned an 'organization of organizations,' comprised of all sectors of the community..."3 In fact, many of the people he worked with felt like they had no say in their own lives, and as a result some turned to crime. "[Alinsky] realize[d] that criminal behavior was a symptom of poverty and powerlessness."4 Alinsky believed in empowerment of the people, and the Have-Nots desperately needed someone who would step up to the plate for them and plead their case. "Alinsky considered himself a realist above all, the ultimate pragmatist[he] had no qualms about assorted versions of morality in the pursuit of worldly power. He didn't coddle his radical acolytes or encourage their bourgeois distinctions between good and evil when it came to transferring power from the Haves to the Have-Nots."5 Alinsky claimed that making the opposition live up to their own standards was something that would trip up the opposition every time, because the other could not live up to its promises in a political showdown. Saul Alinsky said, "Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."6 The Obama Administration would do well to fight fire with fire, especially on the topic of the health care reform debate. There are about 40 million Americans who have no say when it comes to facing big insurance companies, and therefore are uninsured. If Obama and his Administration held the Republicans' feet to the fire, and really extracted from them that what they did not want was tort reform-but for people to continue going on without health insurance-the dark underbelly of Republican politics would certainly be shown. The Republicans would then be beaten by their own game. The people Saul Alinsky chose to organize were people who had no relative value. "[Alinsky] recruited and guided indigenous leaders who identified common interests that brought together previously hostile ethnic groups of Serbs and Croatians, Czechs and Slovaks, Poles and Lithuanians into a large organization, the Back of The Yards Neighborhood Council."7 The Obama Administration, likewise, has done well to hire a bunch of people from different backgrounds. They should still continue this policy. Saul Alinsky commented, "One of the criteria for picking the target is the target's vulnerability ... the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract."8 The Obama Administration must focus on the vulnerable points of the Republican Party. If one msut choose the topic of health care, the main sticking points that will keep the Democrats in power-as one is sure this is a factor Obama wants to have a successful presidency-is to expose the Republicans' "can't-do" attitude, obstructionist politics, and misguided, misinformed, and idiotic notions. "An organizer working in and for an open society is in an ideological dilemma to begin with, he does not have a fixed truth -- truth to him is relative and changing; everything to him is relative and changing.... To the extent that he is free from the shackles of dogma, he can respond to the realities of the widely different situations...."9 Saul Alinsky denoted that, "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength."10 Republicans, when forced to speak on any subject, will eventually show their prejudices. Republicans eventually show their true colors-and not just about small government. They also reveal their sinister scare tactics, the fact that they are looking out for the interests of big corporations, PAC's, and all kinds of other lobbyists that serve their own interests. Republicans show time and time again that they are not interested in doing the will of the people or serving the people. Republicans, in effect, basically have demonstrated over the past 10 or 20 years that their only true interest is benefiting from and profiting from their own ill-gotten financial and political gain. Saul Alinsky said, "Always remember the first rule of power tactics: Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have."11 When properly probed, Republicans reveal their true nature: greed. Since the opposite side is most likely doing whatever it can to get ahead, the Obama Administration should similarly use tactics to do what it must in order to maintain power. This includes, but is not limited to, getting to the ends by almost any means necessary, within reason. "Mr. Alinsky observes that 'any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical.'"12 After all, Republicans do this all the time. Democrats and the Obama White House would do well to take a page from the Republican playbook and try to use whatever effective means it can in order to accomplish its goals. This means that the Obama Administration should go for the jugular-and attack with vigorousness the ridiculous nature of the Republican party which does not want to cooperate with Democrats in order to get important legislation passed, especially on the topic of health care reform. This is the least President Obama can do: to put pressure on the people who rail against the very type of communal power that helped get Obama elected. Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals is a revolutionary book that should inform, the Obama White House's policies. These rules included: making one's opponents stay true to their word; exploiting vulnerable targets; and letting one's opponents make mistakes. REFERENCES Alden, Diane. Saul Alinsky and DNC Corruption. http://www.tysknews.com/Articles/dnc_corruption.htm. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Alinksy, Saul D. Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals- Prologue. http://latter-rain.com/ltrain/alinski.htm. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Alinsky, Saul. Rules for Radicals: The Purpose. http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.htm. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Cohen, Noam. Know Thine Enemy. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/weekinreview/23alinsky.html. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy. http://www.itvs.org/democraticpromise/alinsky.html. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Horwitt, Sanford D. Alinsky: More Important Now Than Ever. http://www.progress.org/alinsky.htm. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Saul Alinsky Quotes. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/saul_alinsky/. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Shiver, Kyle-Ann. Obama's Alinsky Jujitsu. http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/obamas_alinsky_jujitsu.html. Retrieved 3 Nov 2009. Read More