Preview
  • Rules for Radicals

  • A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals
  • By: Saul D. Alinsky
  • Narrated by: Scott Lange
  • Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (1,160 ratings)

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Rules for Radicals

By: Saul D. Alinsky
Narrated by: Scott Lange
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Publisher's summary

First published in 1971, Rules for Radicals is Saul Alinsky's impassioned counsel to young radicals on how to effect constructive social change and know "the difference between being a realistic radical and being a rhetorical one." Written in the midst of radical political developments whose direction Alinsky was one of the first to question, this volume exhibits his style at its best. Like Thomas Paine before him, Alinsky was able to combine, both in his person and his writing, the intensity of political engagement with an absolute insistence on rational political discourse and adherence to the American democratic tradition.

©1971 Saul D. Alinsky (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
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What listeners say about Rules for Radicals

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Why and How Trump Win's!

a very schrewd and practical understanding of how to create and maintain pressure for real change.

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A Brilliant Man, A Dangerous Idea, Well Performed

Saul gives really interesting insights into the inner workings of organized social movements and tells tails of masterful choreography of political mudslinging and manipulation. It is important to keep in mind, however that radicalism is friend to no man and when it gets what it is powerful, leaves people in graves. That said, this is a fantastic educational piece and ought to be regarded as a classic of organizational philosophy!

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needs warning

good lessons but rough to listen to! needs an intro or something to warn us

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Very informative

It appears that BLM, ANTIFA and the Democrats are huge fans of Mr. Saul Alinsky!

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unimpressive.

read well, but the content odd lame, scorn when the time frame in which this was written is considered. more propaganda.

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Very good education Understanding Radicals.

Also I listened to books that were read a little bit more excitingly than this one, The value and education of the thinking mentality of the radical mind was an excellent story to hear. The methodology and thinking capability present very intelligent ideas that border on scary. The ideology behind getting what you want I'm going to almost any lengths to achieve it with dedicated creativity Warrants reading this book with caution and intelligence.

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Machiavelli for the Have-Not's

Contains vulgarity that detract from the book. Without doubt a book you must have on your political science bookshelf. Describes the ethics and tactics and personal traits that enable those without power to take it from those who do. Alinsky speaks from the political left but activists across the political spectrum will benefit from his insights.

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disturbing but informative

I have often heard him referred to but I wanted to hear for myself. I can see how people followed him.

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Horrifying

I've read many books from the right and the from the left end of the political spectrum. Many authors who take aim at the American system often fall short with an entrenched bias that weakens their critiques and inevitable solutions. Not so with Mr. Alinksky. This is one of the first books that I have read that bore a chilling grasp of reality and an unapologetic commitment to attack thy neighbor. It's important to note--Alinsky was not a documented socialist or communist...he's a pure Anti-American who stands alone in his 'action' ideology. I found myself fearing his thinking as much as I did appreciating the cold logic he brought to bear on these pages. He doesn't seem to really want a peaceful society but envisions a society that is constantly at war with itself from within. Make no mistake, the ideas of this book are dangerous because they are realistically cunning. He outlines his dismissal of ethics in social warfare and makes the age-old case for the ends justifying the means, step 1 for any evil enterprise. He advocates for absolutism in public debate. A radical, he tells us, is 100% right and those who oppose a radical are 100% wrong. No middle ground. No compromise. No doubts.

The most horrifying conclusion is who Saul Alinsky identifies as Public Enemy #1 in America: the middle class. Me, you, and roughly 55% of Americans who make up the power base of the country and so, Saul's call to arms is aimed solely at the middle class. His vision is to undermine Middle America's belief system...to ridicule that way of life...to mock and agitate middle-class people...and ultimately to turn the middle class against each other. Saul evens opens the book with a salute to the "very first radical" whom he admired, namely, Lucifer. Jeesh.

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Informative, dangerous, and terrifying

Rules for Radicals, much like The Prince by Machiavelli, gives the reader a keen insight into the nature of power. It is unapologetic in its methods for attaining and using power for political change. Saul Alinsky does not bog down the reader with moral questions nor attempts to answer them himself. The purpose of this book is to give the reader a guide for how to be an effective organizer, with no concern to what is being fought for.

The brilliance of this book is it's clarity and unapologetic understanding of power. The lack of morals leaves the ambivalent reader terrified and the rational reader angered by the total worship of power.

This book is chalked full of cold and manipulative ways of destroying political opponents. This is "the ends justify the means" in book form. Dangerous in the hands of those who seek to divide and destroy the social fabric. Never recommend this book to those who worship the crack cocaine that is power.

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26 people found this helpful