Saul Alinsky

During the nonviolent revolution in Egypt and the nonviolent protest in Madison Wisconsin I am searching for what moves people to action. Certainly moral appeals like stopping the teaching of war at Marquette University do not appeal to many.

The Madison protests are fueled by the Governor and Republican legislature trying to bully persons so union workers in Wisconsin lose the right of collective bargaining. Revolutions in Middle East countries are fueled by the suppression of human rights for so many years by government leaders of the country. It seems like people need to be threaten, like young men were in the Vietnam War by the selective service system, to move people to take action.

Back in my community organizing days, I would welcome politicians that were upset and lashed back at ordinary citizens who were requesting a basic concern, like a vacant house in the neighborhood. The more the politicians refused to listen and respect neighborhood people the easier was my role of community organizer.

At the beginning of the “Tea Party” movement I remember hearing one of the founders saying that had studied the methods of organizing from Saul Alinksy, the father of modern community organizer. His methods of organizing were confrontational and used for the ordinary people and workers. But the tactics are essentially neutral morally and can be used by anyone as they are now being used for the radical conservative right.

When politicians or officials, like those at Marquette University, ignore a concern, like Marquette’s support of the war in Afghanistan, we have two choices: to give up or to persist. The question becomes how to effectively organize and move people.

Last night in the posting, Justified Violence is the Worst, I talked about getting a response or reaction to our questions and concerns by Marquette University.

Is there anything else besides a threat to life and income that moves people to act?

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