Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution. To bring on this reformation requires that the organizer work inside the system….
—Saul Alinsky
I feel lost a lot. And I recognize that the past is gone, and that change is in the nature of reality.
So how come I’m not supporting revolution?
Forgive me, but when I hear the word “change” (especially from people who seek greater power over me), I generally assume they want to make things worse — but for what they claim is my own good.
Comments
4 responses to “Change we can believe in!”
In this current crisis, I cannot help but think the poor are merely stepping stones to power.
This is a recipe for ‘revolution’ within the framework of the existing order – which by stricter definition is not revolution but reform.
It wouldn’t apply to historic revolutions, such as the American, French or Russian. Those citizens were indeed frustrated, but were by no means passive or non-challenging.
I think that if someone following this advice were to have appeared during those upheavals, the people may have tried the course offered but found it ultimately wanting.
The two most important tools of the radical are a conservative haircut and a $500 suit.
Obama was asked what he thought about this passage and it’s author, and he said, “Alinsky? Alinsky? . . . Sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard of him.”