Hillsdale College needs a little more Lucifer.
Lucifer, the original “radical,” receives a shoutout in Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals,” which should be required reading for every Hillsdale College student.
Alinsky’s views and tactics go against everything the college stands for, and that is why his book, or excerpts from it, should be added to the American Heritage Reader. The Reader already contains speeches from Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt which are included to provide a contrary school of thought. It is time to arm students with some insight into modern progressivism and its tactics.
“Rules for Radicals” provides a look at the American left that students will not get from studying Wilson and Roosevelt, and that they definitely won’t receive from studying the Founders. Wilson and Roosevelt offer a nice look at the roots of progressivism in America, but say very little of the tactics the progressives use. And it is great and all that Hillsdale students can quote the Founders like robots, but no good will come of that when the left smears them as close-minded, bigoted, racist tea-baggers.
The importance of reading Saul Alinsky is twofold. First, what better way to truly know what you believe than confronting one of the bluntest outlines of the opposing viewpoint? Second, when the left throws a punch your way, it is best to know where they are coming from so you can react.
Hillsdale is comprised of students who come mostly from conservative Christian households, many of which have as much exposure to progressive thinking as having once driven behind a Prius. No one will deny that the “Hillsdale bubble” exists and that, at this point, it’s a cliché. But bubbles pop, and students need to be exposed to the real world before it shakes them down for all their marbles.
Saul Alinsky can quickly enlighten students to what they are up against in the war of ideas. The book starts by outlining his ideology of change. Like the liberal elite he influenced, Alinsky views the average citizen as nothing more than a pawn to be manipulated in a game of chess. The public will succumb to the pressures of the culture. And as an agent of change, it is your role to manipulate what the public believes. He continues by giving examples that life is a series of conflicts between the Haves and the Have-Nots, and through organized revolutionary change, history progresses. This is entirely contrary to the thinking of the College. Hillsdale’s Mission statement explicitly says: “The College values the merit of each unique individual, rather than succumbing to the dehumanizing, discriminatory trend.”
The real value of reading Saul Alinsky is to understand his tactics for being an effective organizer and agent of change. These tactics can be seen played out in American politics every single day. They outline how to obtain power and influence, how to motivate people, how to ridicule and polarize your enemy, and how to bring about change. Progressive leaders like Obama and Clinton were influenced by much of Alinsky’s thinking, and they have been successful in utilizing his tactics. Two examples that quickly come to mind are the dehumanization of Sarah Palin in 2008 and the vicious attacks on Romney and his time with Bain Capital. Alinsky’s final rule, of the 12 outlined in the book, is “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it,” and it has been effectively deployed against conservative leaders. Hello, Koch brothers.
Just last week, the Washington Free Beacon discovered a series of fangirl-like letters from college-age Hillary Clinton to Alinsky. This relationship went as far as Alinsky offering Hillary a job, which she turned down to attend Yale Law School.
Even William F. Buckley, one of the founders of the modern conservatism, did not shy away from Alinsky. In fact, he brought the community organizer onto his show “Firing Line” to discuss their differences.
Hillsdale College does a tremendous job preparing students for living a life in pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful, but none of that matters when the left uses Alinsky tactics to demonize you. Then, far too often, conservatives get stuck in the mud, and fail to articulate their message.
The solution is simple: Expose Hillsdale students to the ways of Alinsky and to modern progressive tactics by adding “Rules for Radicals” to the American Heritage Reader.
