Taking Power
A note on Saul Alinsky
Power does not concern itself with moral questions—it does not wait for polite requests, nor is it granted or bestowed; it is not simply relinquished. It is seized by those who want it the most. At least, that is how the radical activist Saul Alinsky saw it. Justice, in this interpretation, does not arise from ideals but from force vigorously applied, pressure exerted, and leverage used intelligently.
A system—any system—protects itself with rules, with definitions of right and wrong that seek to maintain power in the status quo. Those who start to effectively challenge a system and its rules are branded as dangerous, immoral, insane, or radical. But in a redefined morality, the issue is not forms of good and evil as defined by power structures—it is about impact, change, and results. A failed revolution, according to Alinsky, is merely a failure, not a noble effort.
And change, according to Alinsky, always happens “radically”—when the powerless stop believing in their own powerlessness. When they organize, disrupt forcefully, and exert extreme pressure—only then can they shake the powerful out of their self-righteous comfort and security. Power concedes nothing voluntarily—it only changes when it feels so threatened that it has no other choice. It does not care about humanity, reason, or ideals. Power only responds to power.
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Niels Koschoreck