No one better formulated this move than C. Wright Mills - the
conversion of 'private troubles' into 'public issues'. I was powerfully
impressed by this theoretical agenda, this rype of attack on
purely individualistic approaches to social problems. I remember
also hearing at about this time a parable which Saul Alinsky, the
radical American community organizer used to tell. It went something
like this. A man is walking by the riverside when he notices
a body floating down stream. A fisherman leaps into the river,
pulls the body ashore, gives mouth to mouth resuscitation, saving
the man's life. A few minutes later the same thing happens, then
again and again. Eventually yet another body floats by. This time
the fisherman completely ignores the drowning man and starts
running upstream along the bank. The observer asks the fisherman
what on earth is he doing? Why is he not trying to rescue this
drowning body? 'This time,' replies the fisherman, 'I'm going upstream
to find out who the hell is pushing these poor folks into
the water.'