Louis Roney: Virtue rewarded

If you have ever wondered why Chicago was the source of so much dangerous Left-wing political thinking, look to the chief hell-raising, America-hating leftist Saul Alinsky who was headquartered there during the 20th century.

“American democracy is being altered by Saul Alinsky’s ideas,” said TIME Magazine in the 1950s. It is strange to me that someone such as Alinsky, son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, sought and found here the very freedom that he later labored to change beyond recognition. Alinsky, like many other left-wingers, set out to destroy the very aspects of the U.S. Constitution that had bestowed his freedom upon him in the first place. This strange phenomenon occurs often among people who have had no freedom in their homeland. If they succeed in their negative desires here, they end up right back where they started from, don’t they? Americans who have fought against tyranny do not look upon the Alinskys of our country with much toleration. Alinsky’s footstep following of “community organizers” included: Hillary Clinton, Caesar Chavez, Wade Rathke, Barack Obama, Dolores Huerta, Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson and many other miscreants. This quixotic gang – alas! – penetrated far into our highest politics.

In the 1930s, Alinsky organized the “Back of the Yards” neighborhood in Chicago (made infamous by Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle” for the horrific working conditions in the stockyards). Alinsky went on to found the Industrial Areas Foundation, which trained organizers and assisted in the creation of community organizations all around the country.

In Alinsky’s 1971 book “Rules for Radicals,” he addressed the 1960s generation of radicals, outlining his instructions on organizing for mass power. In the opening paragraph Alinsky writes, “What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is, to what they believe it should be. ‘The Prince’ was written by Machiavelli for the haves on how to hold power. ‘Rules for Radicals’ is written for the have-nots on how to take it away.” (Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and Mussolini’s “La mia vita” are other notable examples of such ranting.)

How many times does anyone who is satisfied with his life sit down and write a book showing others how to reach that same state of self-satisfaction? Jesus Christ is uniquely exemplary in not guaranteeing us that we will find “a heaven here on earth.”

Our politicians, both Republican and Democrat, promise a future of political and economic bliss if we will only vote for them. By doing so, Americans have already located such wonders as Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama—would drawing straws, perhaps, have been any more destructive of our true values?

Where are the ideals of our founders? How much did we once study and revere the words and lives as such people as Washington, Jefferson and Franklin? They were the courageous souls who dragged a few poorly armed colonists out of the mire of servitude. America was built on a rough-tough fight for freedom. The trick is to hang on to our values while enjoying the powers of the freedom, which is our national heritage.

The Alinskys of the world are damned glad to take the gift of freedom we hand them, but we must be ever vigilant that they do not leave us holding the bag.

Lord Acton’s words should never be forgotten: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The values of Washington, Jefferson, Eisenhower and Reagan must be preserved, or misuse of power will lead us to our own annihilation. America must not only be strong—it must be good.