I have a back door connection to president Obama. A connection to his ideas.
I want to testify to the error of his thinking.
President Obama is a student of Saul Alinsky who wrote the book Reveille for Radicals. The name of the book was changed over the years. I read the book in the mid-1950s and used it for my initial organizing at college in that period. There is also a rumored connection between me and Alinsky. It is rumored that my mother had an affair with him. The timing and circumstances support that rumor.
I was also a friend of the man who supported Alinsky during most of his prominence: Gordie Sherman. Gordie's father was the founder of Midas muffler company. He brought Gordie into the company but quickly kicked him out because of his support for radical Lefty causes such as Alinsky and his activist training school.
Alinsky's basic organizing principle was that people will work together for common cause if they are angry at that common cause. The greater the anger the greater the organizing cohesion. Obama clearly believes that. He keeps trying to get Americans to hate the rich, people on Wall Street, hedge fund managers, millionaires-and-billionaires and Republicans.
Only a limited proportion of people are motivated by anger. I found that theory to be absolutely useless as an organizer. People are generally motivated by the desire to do good, the desire to help others and the desire to make a productive contribution to their society.
Simply look at existing institutions around you from hospitals to Meals on Wheels to organizations to protect animals and wildlife and nature and you know that I am correct and that Obama and Alinsky are wrong.