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Title: Taking On the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era
ISBN: 0451225198
Author:
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga
Publicate Date: 2008-08-20
Publish: 2008-08-20
List Price: $23.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.62
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $6.74
Amazon Merchant Price: $13.17
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A Great Manual from the People Who Know
What can we do to exert change in our political and work environments outside of voting and complaining? The answer can be found in Taking On the System. This book has dozen of ideas, ranging from the simple and immediately doable to the somewhat more complex. I really appreciated the authors use of real life examples to amplify their message. This is a book for committed progressive to foster the change they would truly like to see. Our recent election is a huge step in this process, but until we put ourselves into the struggle, we are like to remain mere voters and complainers.
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2: Helpful manual for blogger-activists but misses the big picture
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga's excellent book is less "how to" than inspiration for those wishing to change the system. There are strategies for bypassing gatekeepers, smart insights about the ineffectiveness of street protests, and 21st century rehashing of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. This book needs honing; it's too long. But the biggest problem is that Zuniga is a left-leaning partisan, helped in large part by a socialist backlash against an incompetent Bush administration. What Zuniga doesn't see is that partisanship, itself, is part of the problem. I think the political process is broken, corrupt, driven into the frenzy of partisan warfare. A mere shift from right to left won't solve the problem. People aren't really citizens any longer; rather, they're consumers, investors, workers. America's foreign policy architecture is deeply flawed. And the US lacks an intelligent way to thwart smuggled nuclear bombs.
I am a non-partisan activist and independent thinker who sees America in serious danger. I'm summoning a Second Constitutional Convention of the nation's political and financial and media elite to meet in Philadelphia in July 2009 to craft a revised document based on the existing Constitution but which the public will vote upon later. I may consider inviting Mr. Zuniga if he can jettison his partisanship and fix America. Check out my critique on Amazon: Common Sense II: How to Prevent the Three Types of Terrorism. I've sent invitations to possible delegates; at this stage, Senator Orrin Hatch has declined; maybe Mr. Zuniga might take his place?
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3: Political Influence Using the Internet
Here's a look at how the internet has changed the way that public opinion is formed and how that can influence politics. The author gives clear examples showing that grassroots activism has taken on a new form with a power that we are just beginning to discover.
This is an well-written and timely book that can help activists, PR people, and anyone involved in challenging or maintaining the status quo should read. Although it is written by a successful blogger, it is NOT a guide to blogging or building an audience. Rather it is a convincing thesis that opinion-building has become doable by individuals without political connections, and that entrenched leaders can be unseated by a few people with something to say and an internet connection.
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4: Skim the book then move on to action
I can't help thinking that author Markos Moulitsas wouldn't mind very much if readers just skimmed the book for some inspiration and moved on quickly to do something toward "taking on the system." Someone else mentioned that the titles and subtitles are the best part of the book. "Set the Narrative." "Target Your Villain." "Exploit Their Weaknesses." "Build a Wave." "Aim for the Gut, Not the Brain." "Advance and Hold Enemy Ground."
So many Americans have felt increasingly disenfranchised and disengaged from the system. Moulitsas describes a process--sort of an evolution of character and action--in which an individual can pick a cause, start small, become engaged, identify the roadblocks, and then move on and on with persistence and determination to knock down the roadblock and get something done. And then lots of individuals can find like-minded communities and become part of a movement that collectively takes on the system to serve the needs of real people in the real America of today.
Moulitsas uses military imagery from time to time, not to suggest acts of violence but rather to move slowly and strategically to stake out a position and then hold onto it. As it turns out, this physically small man I've heard called "twerp" served a stint in the Army, then came out, went to college and then law school, and has now, without physical force, become a part of a movement that's slowly been turning from a minority to a majority representation of the desires of the American people.
I've been reading the author's blog, The Daily Kos. Markos Moulitsas is a prolific writer (using the blogger's name "Kos) posting day after day to keep his readership focused on task and focused on victory in the upcoming elections. He's been labeled "far left," "radical," and more. I don't really see anything more than Democratic partisanship, expressed in a way that drives people to make sure Democrats will win big in the upcoming elections. He uses the key elements of this book every day. He senses his coalition is close to victory, and now he's calling for full victory, no mercy, win as many seats as possible by as big a margin as possible.
For Markos Moulitsas, it doesn't seem to be all that much, really, about ideology as it is about making sure Democratic candidates win elections. So, Taking on the System is sort of a guidebook (I wouldn't go so far as to call it a military handbook) for political success through nonviolent, strategic means. It could probably be as useful for Republicans as it is for Democrats--if not for the fact that Republicans have been using many of these tactics to win elections for the past 30 years.
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5: The Age of Un-Reason
While revealing the tactics of the blogosphere age, this author simply made me angry. What started as a strategy to undermine "the man" ends up being a tool of the establishment, unless you believe the elite are a different group than 50 years ago.
Markos reveals how one targets the enemy, making the attack emotional, (can we say "Sarah Palin"?) This is the style of political campaigns now; nitpick on tiny issues that are hot buttons (buying expensive wardrobes, being on the wrong side of emotional but ultimately meaningless issues, being "not-like-you")
The book just depressed me. Manipulating people has been the subject of books even as far back Machiavelli. (Before then, I suppose people just didn't put this stuff down on expensive sheets of vellum.) But it is a true insight into the way we are emotionally manipulated to take sides on issues rather than have a rational discussion. I say, then bring on the ad homimen attacks. It's all we have left.
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