Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals

The following line encapsulates this chapter’s message: “It does not matter what you know about anything if you cannot communicate to your people” (81). Too many fail to realize that communication is about more than speaking and trying to get one’s point across; it’s also about listening and paying attention to the needs of others. The failure to relate via experience kills good communication.

When organizing very large groups, “you can’t go outside of people’s actual experience” (88), otherwise they will fail to hear you. Additionally, people have to be left alone to make their own decisions. Communication is often like teaching; the best teacher knows how to lead the student to the correct answer without expecting them to regurgitate whatever the teacher has said. In organizing groups of revolutionaries, the organizer must not simply make demands; they must allow individuals to come to the right conclusion on their own, even if they are led by the hand the entire way.

The only way to communicate effectively is to rely on relationships. There are many “sensitive areas that one does not touch until there is a strong personal relationship” (93). In most instances, communication is with the individual person, not with the group as a whole.

The organizer’s identity is important. They need to inspire others to have faith in the organizer’s virtues and capabilities. They must make themselves seen as the most valuable and natural choice for the job and “introduce ideas, get people pregnant with hope and a desire for change” (103).

One of the key opponents of change and revolution is rationalization for individual decisions. Rationalization is “a series of defenses” (109). They must be treated not as defenses to be avoided and battled with, but as reasons that can be waited out and resolved.

The most important thing is to "give the people the feeling that they can do something” (113). Organizing a community is not about getting the community together but providing them with a direction and a power to accomplish something in common. The first step is disorganization—the disruption of the status quo and the gift of the space to create something new.

A community needs to be set in motion and involved in activity: “Organizations need action as an individual needs oxygen” (120). The need for activity runs deeper; it is really a search for personal identity” (121). The personal dignity of the individual needs to be the center for all categorical actions. In fact, it is the center of all activity: “Denial of the opportunity for participation is the denial of human dignity and democracy. It will not work” (123).