“This country's leading hell-raiser" (The Nation) shares his 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.” First published in 1971 and 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.
School reform in the United States continues to disappoint, as evidenced by persistent gaps in performance, particularly among students who come to school from marginalized groups and communities in our society. The challenges are overwhelming: huge and highly diverse systems, uncertainty at every turn, and myriad perspectives and approaches to doing the "right" thing. In such systems it will never be enough to focus only on the most urgent challenges. Rampant uncertainty demands that we address dysfunctional dynamics of human interaction deep within the system. Radical Rules for Schools provides a path for seeing, understanding, and influencing the dynamics to shape patterns of generative teaching and learning. Using the principles of Human Systems Dynamics (HSD), this practical book is designed to help build adaptive capacity to help individuals and groups in education adapt to the challenges and changes they face. We recommend a short list of simple--yet radical--rules to guide decision making and action to set conditions for generative teaching and learning. We argue that, if educators consistently follow these radically simple rules, the underlying dynamics of teaching and learning will shift, and the system will become ever more sensitive, responsive, and robust. We realize that this may sound simplistic, almost like magical thinking. What we also know is that the potential of self-organization in complex systems is powerful. In as much as we can see, understand and influence the dynamics of interaction and decision making, we are able to shape the patterns required to ensure high levels of learning for each individual. We offer this book as one response to the failed school reforms of the last three decades, suggesting these simple rules as the framework for bringing about significant change. We believe the ideas we present in this book, building on the foundations of HSD, offer a path to solutions based in inquiry and adaptive action.
Are you a frustrated conservative shocked by the bunch of far Left fanatics driving the bus—and our future—off a cliff? It’s time to fight back with the same ruthlessness that has served the radicals so well—not just now, but for the long term. And who better to reveal their strategies—and their fatal weaknesses—than one of their own? Playing on his all-too-typical hubris and good old greed, we’ve recruited well-known liberal apparatchik David Kahane to lead conservatives out of the political wilderness, whether he means to or not. Is he arrogant and obnoxious? Absolutely. Does he deliver the goods? You betcha. We’ll let Dave speak for himself: Please allow me to introduce myself. . . . My name is David and I’m going to share some secrets. I’m going to take you into the smoke-free back rooms of today’s progressive political machine to reveal how it really operates—and how you can bring it down. I’ll lay out the rules we radicals have used to run circles around you, and clue you in on how to make them work for you, too. How do I know this stuff? As the son of the sainted “Che” Kahane, I’ve been schooled in the art of seizing and holding political power as we transform America one antiquated tradition and constitutional clause at a time. Now I work in Hollywood, where I’ve perfected the game pioneered by such pros as Machiavelli, Saul Alinsky, and Al Capone, father of the immortal Chicago Way. Read on and learn from our time-tested techniques: • Know your enemy, his intentions, his weapons, and his weaknesses. You too can play relentless, on-message hardball with every scandal, hypocrisy, lie, and fundamentally flawed policy your adversaries dish up. • Become what you behold. Adopt some of our scorched-earth tactics, best described in David Mamet’s Untouchables: “They pull a knife, you pull a gun.” • Take no prisoners. Attack our premises, expose their true nature and consequences, and pin them on us, hard. • Never cede anything to the other side, philosophically speaking. Force the Left to argue facts, not emotions. We hate that. • Treat us with the same respect we give you. None. • It is better to be feared than liked, especially by your enemies. And it helps to show up for the fight. (Note to past and future Republican candidates.) Why am I telling you all this? Because I thrive on making trouble and, frankly, because I’m proud of what my team has done. Between us, I don’t think it matters if I turn over our playbook to you at this late date. I don’t think you can get it together to stop us now. Plus, I got a lot of money. Happy reading, America! You think you can take us down? Go for it. I dare you. From the Hardcover edition.
This book offers a clear and thoughtful process for reflection, self-exploration and planning to bring you toward a new level of personal insight and growth. It's a radical approach that enables you to consider your life right now and your future potential. By following the steps outlined in the book, you will create your own short list of simple rules to shape the patterns of behavior, interaction and decision making you want to frame your life. Start now to bring about radical change to become the person you want to be. Use the companion workbook, Radical Inquiry Journal, to document and track your own journey of discovery and growth. You can purchase both on Amazon.com or contact [email protected] to order your copy-and one for a friend.
From one of the foremost authorities on education in the United States, former U.S. assistant secretary of education, “whistle-blower extraordinaire” (The Wall Street Journal), author of the best-selling The Death and Life of the Great American School System (“Important and riveting”—Library Journal), The Language Police (“Impassioned . . . Fiercely argued . . . Every bit as alarming as it is illuminating”—The New York Times), and other notable books on education history and policy—an incisive, comprehensive look at today’s American school system that argues against those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization movement that is draining students and funding from our public schools. In Reign of Error, Diane Ravitch argues that the crisis in American education is not a crisis of academic achievement but a concerted effort to destroy public schools in this country. She makes clear that, contrary to the claims being made, public school test scores and graduation rates are the highest they’ve ever been, and dropout rates are at their lowest point. She argues that federal programs such as George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and Barack Obama’s Race to the Top set unreasonable targets for American students, punish schools, and result in teachers being fired if their students underperform, unfairly branding those educators as failures. She warns that major foundations, individual billionaires, and Wall Street hedge fund managers are encouraging the privatization of public education, some for idealistic reasons, others for profit. Many who work with equity funds are eyeing public education as an emerging market for investors. Reign of Error begins where The Death and Life of the Great American School System left off, providing a deeper argument against privatization and for public education, and in a chapter-by-chapter breakdown, putting forth a plan for what can be done to preserve and improve it. She makes clear what is right about U.S. education, how policy makers are failing to address the root causes of educational failure, and how we can fix it. For Ravitch, public school education is about knowledge, about learning, about developing character, and about creating citizens for our society. It’s about helping to inspire independent thinkers, not just honing job skills or preparing people for college. Public school education is essential to our democracy, and its aim, since the founding of this country, has been to educate citizens who will help carry democracy into the future.
Legendary community organizer Saul Alinsky inspired a generation of activists and politicians with Reveille for Radicals, the original handbook for social change. Alinsky writes both practically and philosophically, never wavering from his belief that the American dream can only be achieved by an active democratic citizenship. First published in 1946 and updated in 1969 with a new introduction and afterword, this classic volume is a bold call to action that still resonates today.
Elinor Ostrom was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics. Her theorising of the commons has been celebrated as groundbreaking and opening the way for non-capitalist economic alternatives, yet, many radicals know little about her.This book redresses this, revealing the indispensability of her work for green politics, left economics and radical democracy. Ostrom has often been viewed as a conservative or managerial thinker; but Derek Wall's analysis of her work reveals a how itis invaluable for developing a left political programme in the twenty-first century. Central to Ostrom's work was the move 'beyond panaceas'; transforming institutions to widen participation, promote diversity and favour cooperation overcompetition. She regularly challenged academia as individualist, narrow and elitist and promoted a radical take on education, based on participation. Her investigations into how we share finite resources has radical implications for the Green movement and her rubric for a functioning collective ownership is highly relevant in order in achieving radical social change. As activists continue to reject traditional models of centralised power, Ostrom's work will become even more vital, offering a guide tocreating economics that exists beyond markets and states.
This book is a brutal expose’ of religion’s failure to keep and preserve our Godly American culture and the unconventional answer to restore the cultural soul that is rightfully ours to maintain. It exposes the history and spiritual influences behind the decline and the process Christians can follow to reverse that decline. Liberals may claim that they are godless Atheists, but the truth is, they are following the doctrines of Lucifer and following a game plan taught by followers of Lucifer. We are losing a spiritual battle by fighting with the tools of the flesh: logic, reason, emotion, science, and the law. We are bound to lose. We need to learn the rules and methods that have been proven to work spiritually against a ruthless spiritual opponent. Liberals know full well that they are fighting for the soul of our nation. We need to realize that the soul they are fighting for is the complete corruption and loss of the Godly soul our founding fathers tried to establish for our nation. It not only presents the problem but also provides the solution to our problem and the promise that the problem of ungodliness in our culture can be reversed. Godliness can be restored. We are also fighting for the soul of our nation. It is NOT the same soul that the Liberals are trying to preserve. They have corrupted our nation by deception. We can restore the national soul they corrupted with the truth.
Lessons from the groundbreaking grassroots campaign that helped launch a new political revolution Rules for Revolutionaries is a bold challenge to the political establishment and the “rules” that govern campaign strategy. It tells the story of a breakthrough experiment conducted on the fringes of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign: A technology-driven team empowered volunteers to build and manage the infrastructure to make seventy-five million calls, launch eight million text messages, and hold more than one-hundred thousand public meetings—in an effort to put Bernie Sanders’s insurgent campaign over the top. Bond and Exley, digital iconoclasts who have been reshaping the way politics is practiced in America for two decades, have identified twenty-two rules of “Big Organizing” that can be used to drive social change movements of any kind. And they tell the inside story of one of the most amazing grassroots political campaigns ever run. Fast-paced, provocative, and profound, Rules for Revolutionaries stands as a liberating challenge to the low expectations and small thinking that dominates too many advocacy, non-profit, and campaigning organizations—and points the way forward to a future where political revolution is truly possible.
