* RULE 1: €œPower is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.€� Power is derived from 2 main sources €“ money and people. €œHave-Nots€� must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

* RULE 2: €œNever go outside the expertise of your people.€� It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals dont address the €œreal€� issues. This is why. They avoid things with which they have no knowledge.)

* RULE 3: €œWhenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy..€� Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

* RULE 4: €œMake the enemy live up to its own book of rules.€� If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entitys very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

* RULE 5: €œRidicule is mans most potent weapon.€� There is no defense. Its irrational. Its infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

* RULE 6: €œA good tactic is one your people enjoy.€� Theyll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. Theyre doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid €œun-fun€� activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.)
* RULE 7: €œA tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.€� Dont become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.)

* RULE 8: €œKeep the pressure on. Never let up.€� Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

* RULE 9: €œThe threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.€� Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

* RULE 10: €œIf you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.€� Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. (Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred managements wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually brought public sympathy to their side.)

* RULE 11: €œThe price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.€� Never let the enemy score points because youre caught without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem. Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a compromise solution.)

* RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.€� Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

burfordTjustice wrote:
* RULE 1: €œPower is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks
you have.€� Power is derived from 2 main sources €“ money and people.
€œHave-Nots€� must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two
things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and
corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and
usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

* RULE 2: €œNever go outside the expertise of your people.€� It results
in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone
of anyone. (Organizations under attack wonder why radicals dont
address the €œreal€� issues. This is why. They avoid things with which
they have no knowledge.)

* RULE 3: €œWhenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.€�
Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This
happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are
blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then
forced to address.)

* RULE 4: €œMake the enemy live up to its own book of rules.€� If the
rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can
kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own
rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entitys very
credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it
lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip
away at the damage.)

* RULE 5: €œRidicule is mans most potent weapon.€� There is no
defense. Its irrational. Its infuriating. It also works as a key
pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude,
rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

* RULE 6: €œA good tactic is one your people enjoy.€� Theyll keep
doing it without urging and come back to do more. Theyre doing their
thing, and will even suggest better ones. (Radical activists, in this
sense, are no different that any other human being. We all avoid
€œun-fun€� activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work
and bring results.)
* RULE 7: €œA tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.€� Dont
become old news. (Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them
excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new
tactics.)

* RULE 8: €œKeep the pressure on. Never let up.€� Keep trying new
things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters
one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack,
attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization
a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

* RULE 9: €œThe threat is usually more terrifying than the thing
itself.€� Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than
any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always
prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from
the activists minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend
enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the
direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind
and result in demoralization.)

* RULE 10: €œIf you push a negative hard enough, it will push through
and become a positive.€� Violence from the other side can win the
public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
(Unions used this tactic. Peaceful [albeit loud] demonstrations
during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred
managements wrath, often in the form of violence that eventually
brought public sympathy to their side.)

* RULE 11: €œThe price of a successful attack is a constructive
alternative.€� Never let the enemy score points because youre caught
without a solution to the problem. (Old saw: If youre not part of
the solution, youre part of the problem. Activist organizations have
an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table, to be
given a forum to wield their power. So, they have to have a
compromise solution.)

* RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize
it.€� Cut off the support network and isolate the target from
sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster
than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct,
personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

who's the left