(roundtable discussion facilitated by Brian Reich, Mindshare Internet Campaigns,
L.L.C., with Mark Brunswick, Jesse Gordon, Christine Williams, Jennifer Doe)

Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals (1971) revolutionized activism. Alinsky offered a
method for pursuing social change that remains relevant today. Now, technology is
revolutionizing how community politics are pursued. Will Alinsky’s rules translate
to online engagement? How will traditional organizers integrate online tools? Two
“online” organizers and up to two “offline” organizers will lead the discussion.



Alinsky Rules:
Applying Rules for Radicals to the Political Internet
Alinsky's rule of ethics of means and ends: "The means-and-ends moralist or non-doers always wind up on their ends without any means."
Alinsky's first rule of power tactics: "Power has always derived from two main sources, money and people."
Alinsky's ninth rule of ethics: "Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as unethical."
Alinsky's fourth rule of power tactics: "Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules."
Alinsky's rule of tactics: "People power is the real objective. [Tactics] are simply a means to an end."

Points

• Understand audience and medium.
  
• See life as Tivo because it's about choice instead of a as a controlled medium.
  
• Put personal agenda aside for sake of unification
  
• Understand what you are trying to get across to them, get within their experience
  
• Change comes from power, power comes from organization
  
• Internet helps because you can see the rules.

Books

• Rules for Radicals
  
• Understanding Media

Concepts

• Open source politics OR co-creation
  
• Illusion of Aggregation

Questions

• Is there a difference between online activists and activists?
  
• Is message discipline necessary?
  
• Is someone elected because of an online, grassroots leadership markedly different from someone who runs through traditional political routes?
  
• How does the Internet effect leadership?
  

Websites Discussed:

• organizing microsoft workers
  
• lawyers in cyberspace
  
• issue information
  
• Mass Scorecard