NEA - Recommended Reading: Saul Alinsky, The American Organizer

"'Radicals precipitate the social crisis by action - by using power. Liberals may then timidly follow along or else, as in most cases, be swept forward along the course set by Radicals, but all because of forces unloosed by Radical action. They are forced to positive action only in spite of their desires ...
'The American Radical will fight privilege and power whether it be inherited or acquired by any small group, whether it be political or financial or organized creed.
'He curses a caste system which he recognizes despite all patriotic denials.
'He will fight conservatives whether they are business or labor leaders.
'He will fight any concentration of power hostile to a broad, popular democracy, whether he finds it in financial circles or in politics.
'The Radical recognizes that constant dissension and conflict is and has been the fire under the boiler of democracy. He firmly believes in that brave saying of a brave people, 'Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!'
'The Radical may resort to the sword but when he does he is not filled with hatred against those individuals whom he attacks. He hates these individuals not as persons but as symbols representing ideas or interests which he believes to be inimical to the welfare of the people.
'That is the reason why Radicals, although frequently embarking upon revolutions, have rarely resorted to personal terrorism.'
Alinsky practiced what he preached. He said, 'Tactics means doing what you can with what you have ... tactics is the art of how to take and how to give.'"