Ronald Radosh reviews Nicholas von Hoffman's bio of Saul Alinsky which is sure to complicate the right-wing narrative of the man (guilty as charged, here).
A second look at Saul..?
Moreover, according to von Hoffman, Alinsky also opposed putting community organizers on the government payroll, as Bobby Kennedy sought to do, since “it made an independent civil life next to impossible.” It also created the conditions by which any administration could use their work for “social and political control.” It would “stifle independent action,” and possibly turn paid organizers “into police spies.” As von Hoffman sees his mentor, Alinsky opposed not only big government, but also large corporations and big labor. What he wanted was not revolution — despite his radical rhetoric meant to appeal to the New Left — but “democratic organizations which could pose countervailing power against modern bureaucracies.” Thus, in von Hoffman’s view, Saul Alinsky was a radical, but a Tory radical or a radical conservative: a man with a libertarian sensibility who supported all the little men fighting against any large structure, whether it was the government, a corporation, or organized labor.
Intriguing, indeed.
According to von Hoffman, Alinsky, shhh... admired Senator Barry Goldwater and shared Goldwater's misgivings regarding the mischief that could be achieved by the courts absent broad public sentiment.
Go ahead and read the rest of the review at the link. Fascinating stuff.
Us? We're tired. We're just going to go ahead and lay down over here and take a quick nap. Late.
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