Why can’t I complain about Dan Benitez and his shenanigans? Because understand that I am aware that everything I did with the Barrio, with the Neighborhood Coalitions, etc., was just as much pure, raw manipulation as what he was doing. At times, it was subversive if needed, or subtle at other times; sophisticated and open and participatory, but always manipulation. Organizing, by definition, is manipulation pure and simple. Someone “organizes” it. It doesn’t happen by itself.
Manipulation is like a gun; it is a tool. You can use tools for good or for bad. It all depends on the user, the who, and the why, but to fool yourself into thinking you are not using this tool, is to trick yourself. There are two types of manipulations: environmental and personal manipulation.
The first shapes the surroundings, so people can act effectively within it by their choice, such as scheduling meetings, agendas, presenting alternatives. The second tries to shape people’s thinking, to control events, to pre-identify results, so people do what the manipulators intended. As with any other tool, shaping things is a tool, and it can be a weapon. As with guns, if you don’t have them, others do, and those who do will win. Be it the criminal or a government who doesn’t want you to have guns, but not you, and if you don’t understand those tool, you don’t win.
For the Estate to gain control, it must take the power away from the people; take the tools away and take the guns away, gradually, sublimation of goals, using the tool of personal manipulation, AKA organizing. They will need to control the healthcare, the information sharing, take over the influence of the children from the family, control the food supply chain, and finally control the economy and the finances. They will also need to control the banks, with regulations and control prevent citizens from owning firearms. Since the government is the acceptable monopoly, that is who will take control, then extend it through permitting other ‘unannounced’ monopolies. To prevent that reality, you must fight for your individuality and that of others. Individuality is your greatest weapon against other’s wrongful personal manipulation.
The strategy that works well for the enemy, (as well as for you,) is to ask for more than what you know you will get, even if it sounds outlandish, “You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments” and “Goals must be phrased in general terms like ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, of the Common Welfare, Pursuit of Happiness, or Bread and Peace.” then compromise halfway. Subsequently, ask for even more and again compromise halfway. Keep doing that. On day ten, you are farther past what was at first an outlandish request. As an example, gun control works that way, a little at a time till you take it all.
Community Organizing is getting power through numbers, meaning voters and potential voters. Most organizers do not share that power with others. It becomes their power, or they choose whom to give it to, what to use it for, despite anything they say. They direct it and control it. Extortion then becomes the primary tool for them. Extortionists will say, “With so many people behind us, if you don’t do what we want, there will be consequences, such as boycotts.” While on the other hand in a true democracy, the ‘pressure’ by the candidate on the voter is: “If you don’t vote for me, things can be worse with the other guy.” The choice is on the voter.
Extortionists ask for money for the cause, then they pocket much of it. “Until you support our cause we will continue to give you bad publicity or threaten a boycott, or riots.” This pressure usually works very well against banks, private businesses, and politicians. Extortion is a tool that can be helpful if well used. Chavez and Dr. King knew the right way to use it. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton did not. Remember what we did with the Carrillo Swimming Pool and the swimming in the fountains. Did we fail to share the power? Because we did it well, we no longer had to use that manipulation with the Mini-Park, Parquesito del Tiradito, or the Centro Historico and its Tool Library. A better example of power sharing will be demonstrated later with the tale about the Neighborhood Watch Program.
Ethical tension can lead to valuable equilibrium. The value of the result will depend on the morals of the individuals involved. As someone said, “Democracy is a poor system of government, and all the others are worse.” The biggest threat to democracy is corruption, such as cronyism, monopolies, buying votes, lobbying, the internal enemies piggybacking on emotional wording. Since a government, by definition, is a monopoly, it is to be treated with vigilance, and kept on a short leach.
What is the difference between manipulators like Alinsky or Sharpton, and people like me? Simple, “share the power” and “Believe in your fellow man no matter how often he may disappoint you.” Don’t just talk about the disfranchised, give them equal power, their power, education, not to disrupt but to construct. Also, do defend others against evil. The proper use of power must be effective at all levels; the very rich, the new rich, the relative wealthy, the comfortable, the struggling, and those helping themselves out of poverty.
Help and share, but for obvious reasons, don’t volunteer power over others to the chronic poor, until they have the power of education and know how to make basic things in life work. With them, share only the power of education, but do so.
By the way, statistics are often used to create a false narrative. When people throw the numbers of the poor at you, it is usually a smoke screen for ulterior motives. In a healthy society like the United States, in ten years, the statistical number of so-called poor people may be the same, but it is not the same people who were poor ten years earlier. Understanding the difference is essential, as by now most of them may no longer be poor. Their trickling up is one example of what selected statistics may not tell you. Implicitly, it distorts reality and facts. This goes back to what I talked about earlier when I discussed manipulation of numbers into perceived numbers. When discussing if the other side omits this detail, they are not conveying the truth. It reinforces my point that omission of facts is manipulation of truth. In addition, when you hear that 20% of the population is poor, that is an artificial number, as we are constantly changing the definition of what “poverty” means and how it is tabulated.
There are several reasons why from one generation to the next, those who are poor shifts. Many who fall under the label “poverty” are recent immigrants, and we know from experience that they are, or used to be, eager to work themselves out of poverty, and generally do so rather quickly while new immigrants come in to replace them in the statistical mirage, but they are not the same people. By omitting that fact, politicians take advantage of demanding more money for a cause that does not exist, or that they cause. The emphasis should be on results, not on an elusive or false problem. My point here is that with some regional exceptions, probably less than 5% remain hungry poor throughout their lives. Over the years, poverty in the United States is very easy to get out of, just get out of the snare of the government and victimization, and never, never give up.
There are three general exceptions: people born with physical or mental deficiencies, and those born to drug-addicted mothers, often same difference. Chemicals not only fry your brain, but also that of your child. Second is age. There is also a third and rather difficult vicious cycle to break, it can even be called a culture. Those who believe they are disfranchised and convince themselves that poverty is a way of life, believing that nothing they can do can change that status because fate and others will prevent it, they will continue to live in poverty. They will even badmouth those of their own who try to get ahead. Yes, of course, others may prevent your changing your status if you let them, but it is not because of fate! Once you think you can’t, you stop thinking how to.
Even if towards the end, Dan Benitez and his staff became embroiled in illegal activities and tried to derail us, I still believe our best defense was not to retaliate or copy the negative things they did to us, but instead to respect the positive side of what they accomplished and move on.
One incident that stands out in my mind as weird when we were fighting for the survival of our funding, was with George Miller, a Democrat Council Member who turned to become very underhanded and un-helpful when our efforts became successful. We invited him for a tour of what we were doing. I went with him to several of the houses under repair, introduced him to many of the work crew, and talked to many of the families. With the families, he was respectful but noncommittal, and with the work crew he never ever looked any of them in the eye. I found that troubling. He showed no interest in the Self Help Housing Project, none. I expected a decline for Tucson with his influence, unless we changed his thinking. We didn’t change him. To me, the man demonstrated all the signs of a closet racist, and worse. But we had to move on[xxxvii].