Organizational Man
Note: The audio quality is a little wonky this week. The opening is a click faster than normal and some bits in the middle are a bit slower than normal. I record these in pieces and when they were spliced together something went wrong. I did not have time to di into it and it is not that big of a deal, but it has been noted.
The response to the show last week was not what I expected, as I did not think the content of the show was all that good. I got a lot of feedback from people who had been involved in organizing and activism. It looks like this is a topic on the minds of people who have experience with trying to organize at the grassroots level. A few people suggested writing about the basics of organizing, which is a good idea. Our side has nothing in that regard. The Left has tons of material.
The closest our side has to handbooks on organizing is stuff people ripped off from the far-left that has been repackaged with a new title. The Alinsky tract Rules for Radicals becomes Rules for Conservative Radicals. Imitating winners is never a terrible idea, but the people in charge organize under different rules than those seeking to oppose or subvert those in charge. The goals are obviously different, but the range of motion is different due to the imbalance of power and resources.
That is why there is a limit as to how much can be borrowed from the Left when it comes to organizing and activism. This starts with the right-wing radical breaking free of the belief that he speaks for a majority. There is no doubt that the majority would nod along to what he says but they will not lift a finger until they get permission from the people in charge, who are the Left. Throwing energy at trying to mobilize those who quietly agree takes away from effective organizing.
This is something I did not include in the show, but it has been a bane of right-wing causes since forever. The Left is always looking to convert people to their cause, while the Right always seeks to mobilize the converted to the moment. This is why the Left is implacable, never taking no for an answer. It is also why the Right so readily accepts defeat and then internalizes it. Left-wing politics is about overcoming popular objections while right-wing politics is about counting noses.
It is a big subject and deserves a much longer treatment. The show this week is mostly thinking out loud about some aspects of organizing. It really would make for a good book, but I need to finish the book I have three quarters finished. Maybe if I ever get that done, I will take a stab at this topic in more detail. It would also make for a good video series, since young people prefer pictures to words. Young people do most of the activism, so they are the proper audience.
This week I have the usual variety of items in the now standard format. Spreaker has the full show. I am up on Google Play now, so the Android commies can take me along when out disrespecting the country. I am on iTunes, which means the Apple Nazis can listen to me on their Hitler phones. The anarchists can catch me on iHeart Radio. I am now on Deezer, for our European haters and Stitcher for the weirdos. YouTube also has the full podcast. Of course, there is a download link below.
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This Week’s Show
Contents
- 00:00: Opening
- 03:00: The Basics
- 23:00: Membership
- 43:00: Activism
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