literature, past and present. Everyone must rigorously enforce
the slogan, “One night a week for Marxist study.”
Communists may be busy or deeply involved in other Party work. But they
must also carry on self-study or, as the communists call it, _ideological
self-cultivation_ or _raising the ideological level of the member_. This
means daily readings in the communist bible—the works of Marx, Engels,
and Lenin. (Following Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin, the late
dictator’s works were appreciably de-emphasized in Party study programs.)
This is not something optional; it is an absolute requirement. To study
the communist “masters,” says the Party, is to be made “perfect” as they
were “perfect”—and incidentally to make members work harder selling
papers, collecting dues, and handing out leaflets.
In the final analysis this communist education, like all phases of the
Party’s program, is geared to _revolutionary action_. “It is for the
Party and for the victory of the revolution that we study.” The Party
isn’t training its members just for fun. Each one must be steeled,
hardened, and purified of his capitalist “scum,” “filth,” and “dirt.”
The new member was born and reared under capitalism and, in communist
eyes, therefore he is infected with “selfishness,” “intrigue,” “class
attitudes.” “Is it anything strange,” one communist writer asks, “that
there are muddy stains on a person who crawls out of the mud...?”
These stains must be washed off. It’s a lifetime job. Non-Party or
“capitalist” attitudes keep cropping out. Some have been inherited,
others newly acquired from capitalist contamination. That’s why even
old-time members keep attending school. It’s like cleaning a skillet that
tarnishes. Constant scrubbing (more indoctrination) is needed to make and
keep the member ideologically pure.
Communist education is constantly seeking to destroy the “remnants of
bourgeois ideology,” the undigested lumps of independence not yet crushed
by communist thought control. That is the gnawing fear of all communist
regimes: that an undigested lump will be missed, that somewhere lying
undetected is a member who has not been completely indoctrinated. This
individual is a potential enemy who may someday rise against his masters.
The Party has a term, _political maturity_, to signify the member who has
been so indoctrinated that, as a matter of sixth sense, he will always
know the Party line.
Party Literature
The Party’s literature program (comprising newspapers, magazines,
pamphlets, and books) is a companion to Party schools and self-study in
helping to create communist man.
These publications, regardless of their form, tell but one story, the
Party’s story. The member must believe no other. For this purpose the
Party is operating a multihundred-thousand-dollar propaganda machine.
Inside the Party the refrain is constantly heard: Buy our literature.
“Got a nickel, mister? Try this pamphlet.” “You don’t want to miss
our paper.” “Here, subscribe to _Political Affairs_” (the Party’s
monthly theoretical magazine). The pressure is terrific. Party-operated
bookstores and newspaper carrier routes distribute a steady stream of
Party literature, as do the clubs themselves.
“We probably circulate more literature per member of our organization by
ten times,” one former Party leader said, “than any other organization in
existence.”
The Party’s chief newspaper is the _Daily Worker_ (and its week-end
edition, _The Worker_), published in New York City. On the West Coast
it’s the _People’s World_ (a weekly published in San Francisco).
Don’t think of the _Daily Worker_ in terms of your own daily newspaper.
It is strictly a propaganda organ. A tabloid with bold, black headlines,
its “news” stories, editorials, book reviews, even its sports columns,
are slanted to promote the Party’s views.
For example, _Daily Worker_ sports writer Lester Rodney, in his column
“On the Scoreboard,” praises “the phenomenal and growing successes of
the Soviet Union in the world of sports.” He says, “... the answer is
socialism. If Russians were just so all-fired hot as Russians, where were
all their champion teams and athletes under the Czar?”
In obvious glee Rodney writes: “So fellow sports lovers, this socialism
deserves a little open-minded study, at least, that’s clear. (There’s a
fine school over on Sixth Ave. and 16th St. where you can study it if
you’re lucky enough to be a New Yorker.)” The Jefferson School of Social
Science, a front school, was then located at this address.
And Rodney couldn’t miss the chance for another propaganda plug:
Just one more thing and really the most important for today
with all the “Soviet menace” hogwash. No matter what you may
or may not think of their socialism, it is self-evident that a
nation which loves to play and is turning out fine athletes in
increasing numbers and building more and more sports fields is
a nation which is thinking about peace and not war.
The _Daily Worker_ serves as a unifier of policy, an organizer of action,
and a Party builder. It is a public document. Hence, don’t expect to find
there Party secrets, such as the identities of underground officials or
decisions of confidential meetings. However, for those who understand
its double talk it provides a quick means to communicate the Party line.
Moreover, it does not let the membership forget the identity of the
Party’s enemies and sometimes its friends. Like a vast searchlight, it
gives direction to members, wherever they may be.
Day after day the _Daily Worker_ drills a central theme into its readers:
that life in the United States is terrible; that only in communist
countries, especially in the Soviet Union, is life worth living at all.
The day’s news is scanned for some incident to distort and use to
browbeat the United States. Any action of the American government is
always, somehow or other, part of a conspiracy to engulf the world
in World War III. One rat in a tenement house becomes an army of
rats devouring thousands of people. Pick out every weakness, real or
imaginary. Stir up dissension. Try to weaken morale.
After Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin, the _Daily Worker_ carried
some criticism of Soviet Russia, for the most part pertaining to
anti-Semitism and illegal arrests. Certain aspects of Russia’s
intervention in Hungary were also criticized. Highly novel for the _Daily
Worker_, this criticism apparently reflected the personal views of John
Gates, the editor. Gates, of all the top Party leaders, appeared to have
been most affected by Khrushchev’s revelations. He was severely attacked,
however, by other Party officials, including William Z. Foster, and his
resignation was demanded. Nevertheless, despite this limited criticism,
the _Daily Worker_ remained loyal to the over-all aims of Soviet Russia
and continues to belittle, mock, and criticize American life.
This loyalty to things Russian has caused the _Daily Worker_ to perform
some interesting gymnastics. A good example was the famous “Doctors’
Plot,” early in 1953, just before Stalin’s death. Moscow reported the
arrest of nine doctors charged with plotting to kill high-ranking Soviet
officials. “Moscow Nips Plot to Kill Army Chiefs,” headlined _The Worker_
(January 18, 1953), obviously happy. Then the doctors were suddenly
released. Back-flipped _The Worker_ with the greatest of ease: “The Case
of the Soviet Doctors, How a Socialist State Protects Its Citizens”
(April 12, 1953).
In March, 1953, _The Worker_ reported Stalin’s death. “STALIN: Man of
Peace,” “The Cobbler’s Son Who Built a New World,” “‘His Name and His
Work Will Endure Through the Ages,’” “Stalin—Architect of a Working
People’s World.” In 1956 the headlines shifted: “Lenin’s Principles
Abandoned by Stalin,” “Minorities Were Exiled and Mistreated,” “Says
Stalin Unleashed Mass Terror 1936-1937.” One writer headed his column:
“Stalin Wasn’t God—And We Weren’t Angels.”
Communists regard themselves as “apostles” of a new order living
in “enemy-controlled” territory. Communists claim that the _Daily
Worker_ cuts through the “capitalist press” and its smog of “lies,”
“distortions,” and “fakes,” bringing “truthful information.” This is the
highest principle of a “free press.”
The communist press, with its bigoted, perverted, single point of view,
is a disturbing reality. It seeks the definite, systematic, and mass
indoctrination of the minds of men to trust only the Party. Truth becomes
what a group of men say it is.
Here’s an example of how “freedom of the press” works for the communists:
A Party leader hurried toward the building where a convention was being
held. Just outside the door he paused. An individual was handing out
leaflets urging the election of a slate opposed by the Party.
“That guy ought to be thrown out,” the Party boss remarked to a
companion. “He’s nothing but a Trotskyite. He shouldn’t be allowed around
here.”
Some time later the same two men were again attending a meeting. This
time the _Daily Worker_ was being sold outside. The companion objected,
saying this wasn’t a communist meeting.
“Uh,” retorted the Party member. “This is a free country. You can’t stop
him from passing it out.”
No wonder communism can operate only in the glow of book burnings. No
opposite view can be tolerated. “Down with non-party writers!” Lenin
demanded.
As an example, after Browder’s “fall from power” in 1945, many of his
books were burned. Shifts in the Party line also cause book burnings.
One New England headquarters, caught in a Party shift, destroyed three
barrels of literature. What is “true” today in the Party may not be
“true” tomorrow.
Modern-day techniques of literature dissemination extend the tyranny
of communist indoctrination. The Party wants mass readership. Always
remember that the communists are practical, everyday agitators. Why
publish something at a high price that few will buy? There are few fancy
bindings, engravings, or pictures. Communist publishing firms have
exploited the publication of pamphlet-form editions and paper-backed
volumes, anything to gain circulation and spread the communist message.
Prices are now higher, but communist literature is today being sold for
five, ten, twenty, twenty-five, and thirty-five cents. Even these prices
are considered too high. “I do not consider a five-cent pamphlet mass
literature. We have to go back to mass penny literature ...,” one Party
leader commented. Amazing circulations have been achieved. Editions of
Lenin’s _Imperialism_ and _State and Revolution_, totaling 100,000 copies
each and costing ten cents a copy, were issued. Other pamphlets were
printed in editions totaling 307,000; 275,000; 350,000; 440,000.
Everything possible has been done to make available in English the works
of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin. A twelve-volume series of Lenin’s
_Selected Works_, over 6000 pages, sells for twenty-five dollars. Marx’s
_The Civil War in France_ is offered for a dollar and fifty cents
(cloth); paper-bound, twenty-five cents. The most important writings of
Lenin are made available in the “Little Lenin Library” (for Marx it’s
the “Little Marx Library”), with prices ranging from five to ninety
cents. Many foreign communist writings are also printed. During the
period 1948-55, according to a report of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, the writings of Lenin were more
widely translated than the Bible, with Stalin’s writings ranking third.
Mention should also be made of communist-shop leaflets, neighborhood
papers, and throwaways that are placed on doorsteps, thrown into parked
cars, or scattered in buildings. Generally Mimeographed, they represent
an easy, cheap, and effective method of stirring up trouble.
The pressure is terrific—buy, buy, buy. Widely publicized campaigns to
sell the _Daily Worker_ are regular features of Party life. The more
communist material a member reads, the less time he has for reading
“capitalist propaganda.”
Cultural Indoctrination
Even if a member faithfully went to school, studied at home, and read
Party literature, he would still have spare time during which non-Party
thoughts might seep in. That would never do.
Every facet of the member’s life, even when he plays the piano, sings,
goes to a movie, sees a painting, or reads a book, must be saturated with
communism. Art doesn’t exist for art’s sake. Art, as Lenin taught, is
a weapon of the class struggle. “Culture” becomes an indoctrinal spray
seeking to control every part of the member’s heart, mind, and soul.
The member is subjected to a barrage of Russian, satellite, and native
communist “cultural” propaganda. There are art exhibits, folk dances,
theater groups, nationality bazaars. Many of these are carried on through
front groups and hence not labeled as communist. The _Daily Worker_
advertises Soviet movies, which are often shipped to Party units across
the country. Short stories, novels, and poetry come in steady streams.
Forums extol the virtue of Soviet life. Here, the communists say, is the
new “people’s culture,” bringing the “real truth.”
The theme is always the same: Russia and communism represent a new world
of “hope,” “promise,” and “achievement,” creating “communist man” in all
his “remarkable spiritual qualities.” The United States is a “weak,”
“decadent,” and “sick” country, dominated by vulgar tastes, thievery, and
debauched living. No wonder, according to the _Daily Worker_, the Soviet
soldier in World War II spent his time reading Shakespeare and Tolstoy
while the “uncultured” GI read assorted inferior trash!
The member is urged to read Soviet literature and see the “glorious”
communist “hero” working his heart out for the regime. This
“hero”—usually just an ordinary, plain fellow (like the member)—can
repair a blast furnace in one day instead of the usual six to eight
weeks. Why? For the glory of communism. Another “hero” is sad and
disheartened. He has bungled his factory job. He wasn’t doing his share.
But a strong arm is around his shoulders, the arm of an experienced
worker. He’ll show the worker “hero” how to break production records, for
communism—when in real life he might be headed for a slave labor camp.
Day after day this propaganda is dinned into the member.
Children are included. The Party feels that the basic responsibility
of indoctrinating the child lies with the communist parents. A member
in Buffalo announced, for instance, that a class for children, aged
five to seven, would be held in the basement of her home. Ironically,
it was called “Sunday school” because it was held on Sunday. But, the
member added, this school was not to teach “the word of God or in any
way teach religion.” The instruction obviously would be directed to the
fundamentals of Marxism.
Books are published for children. One, _Our Lenin_, is a story of Lenin’s
life, translated and adapted “for American children.” In this an American
worker is quoted: “‘It [the Soviet Union] will last forever, and we here
will follow its example.’” It’s a steady diet of propaganda.
Suppose the member wants to write, paint, or compose music? He, too, must
follow the Party line. His work must promote communism.
Some of the writings are very crude, but they get across the Party line.
Here’s a poem that appeared in the _Daily Worker_ shortly after Stalin’s
death, eulogizing the Soviet dictator:
He was melted in the open hearth of feudal czarist oppression
He was forged in the fire of revolution
His chemistry was the chemistry of struggle
And left him as pure as the hope of liberation of the working class
He was alloyed with large masses of the Soviet peoples and heaping
shovelfuls of international brotherhood with just the right
amount of love for humanity to finally make—
A man of steel....
An artist wants to paint a flock of birds in a tree. That’s silly, the
Party says. There’s no communist message. Here’s how his idea can be
improved.
Make one bird a white dove and, presto, you’re right in line with the
communist “peace” offensive. Another improvement: Put a mean-looking
capitalist “warmonger” under the tree taking aim at the peaceful dove.
Just the name of the picture often gives a communist twist. A drawing of
a sleeping child, cuddling her baby bear, couldn’t be labeled “Slumber.”
No propaganda there. “Too Hungry to Stay Awake” would be better, to show
how people are starving in the United States. A young lady walking down
the street smiling and confident isn’t “Girl on a Stroll” but “Battler
for Peace.” The beauty and power of any work of art must be measured by
“the degree to which it is permeated with the ideas of Communism.” This
is the way, the communists say, that the masses can be directed.
The Party, in the final analysis, has an interpretation for the whole of
human life. Nothing is untouched: science, psychology, sex, love, care
of children, literature, history, the origin and end of life. Everything
must be absorbed. Communism is a unitary, all-embracing, and absolute
system.
Not only the present but also the past must be controlled. Communist
writers have already reinterpreted American history, claiming that the
Party is today the true inheritor of the traditions of 1776. They seek to
associate themselves with such men as Paine, Jefferson, and Lincoln, whom
they identify as “advanced fighters” for the ideals that the communists
claim they now represent. For example, the _Daily Worker_ on Lincoln’s
Birthday in 1953 said, “Lincoln’s heritage is carried forward mainly by
the working class and its Marxist party.”
In literature they seek to pervert such writers as Walt Whitman and Mark
Twain, claiming, for instance, that Whitman’s love of freedom is the
story of their own aims. “... poet and prophet of a people’s democracy”
was the _Daily Worker’s_ salute.
The Party conducts an annual pilgrimage to Whitman’s tomb in Harleigh
Cemetery, Camden, New Jersey. Mother Bloor, the “old mother” of
communism, made a fetish of her alleged friendship with Whitman.
Twain’s life, a _Worker_ article asserted, was an inspiration to fight
against “imperialism and war.”
Carried to its logical conclusion, this attitude creates different
holidays, customs, and habits for the communists. Christmas, for example,
is exploited for propaganda purposes; it is a time to send out cards
for “peace,” to urge amnesty for communists in jail, to appeal for
funds. It holds no religious significance for Party members. A communist
America would celebrate the birth of Karl Marx rather than the birth of
Christendom.
This constant saturation with communism, through Party education,
literature, the press, and “culture,” has had its effect in shaping
communist man. A comrade writing in _Party Voice_, organ of the New York
State Communist Party, frankly admitted what is happening:
I have no doubt that there are comrades in our movement who
have not read a single American book outside of progressive
literature in many moons but who can discuss in detail the
latest Soviet book or periodical from China. ... we have many
comrades who have been brought up on Soviet culture and who are
not familiar with the cultural life of our own people.
* * * * *
There are some comrades who never see an American film but
confine their movie-going to nothing but foreign films. There
are others who see only the decline and fall of American
culture but fail to see what is new and growing.
So far has the creation of communist man gone that, in some instances,
Party members are embarrassed to salute the American flag. The _Party
Voice_ comrade tells how embarrassed he felt as he hesitantly saluted the
flag at a Memorial Day parade. “At times I looked up and down the street
and hoped, inwardly, that none of my ‘left’ friends were looking at me.”
So great is the erosion of patriotism that the author even poses this
question: “Should Communists know the verses of the Star-Spangled Banner?”
This is how communism is working to promote an alien way of life in
America. The whole story, however, is still not told. How are all these
facets of Party life held together? What gives a ruthless uniformity to
Party actions? We must now turn to a study of Party discipline, a system
of terror that holds Party members in the grip of an unbelievable tyranny.
13.
_Communist Discipline_
In communist eyes the processes of education, the press, and “culture,”
which we considered in the last chapter, are not enough for molding
the revolutionary. Important as they are, they must be supplemented by
_communist discipline_, a discipline that enforces uniformity, ensures
Party supremacy, and files fanaticism to a sharp cutting edge.
Modern-day communism, in all its many ramifications, simply cannot
be understood without a knowledge of communist discipline: how it is
engendered, how it operates, how it tears out man’s soul and makes him a
tool of the Party. The very core of communism is discipline. Without it
communism would lose much of its momentum, terror, and striking power.
The Party’s constitution provides for disciplinary action. An elaborate
“appeals” framework is provided whereby a series of “courts” is available
to hear “charges,” with the National Convention being the “court” of
final resort. Generally speaking, disciplinary problems are handled, on
all levels of the Party, by Review and Control Commissions (often called
Security Commissions). They serve as the “courts” to discipline any
member who might be hostile to the Party.
These “courts” must not be confused with courts as we know them in the
American judicial system. Run by hardened, old-time comrades, they are
weapons of Party discipline. “Sentences” are meted out on the basis
of expediency, not justice. Rules of evidence, the fair balancing of
opinions, and the seeking of truth play no role. Communist discipline is
a repugnant totalitarianism.
Here is the account of one victim of communist discipline. John Lautner
had been a member of the Communist Party for more than twenty years.
He had risen through the ranks until he was a member of the National
Review Commission of the Communist Party; he headed the New York Review
Commission, was security officer for the Party headquarters building,
then at 35 East 12th Street, New York City. He considered himself a
dedicated member of the Party.
One day in January, 1950, he was told to proceed to Cleveland, Ohio, to
help in perfecting plans for the communist underground in Ohio. Upon
arrival he was taken ostensibly to a Party meeting in the basement of a
residence. There he was ordered to remove his clothes and for a period
of several hours was subjected to the basest of indignities. He was told
that he would not leave alive as six other communists, who Lautner said
had “butcher knives,” “revolvers,” “rubber hoses,” and a “recording
machine,” started questioning him about his knowledge of the underground,
his army record, his relationship with Hungarian defectees, and his
reports to federal agencies. He was accused of being an enemy agent, a
spy, of hiring unreliable people to work in the Communist Party defense
office, and protecting government “spies” in the Party. Actually, Lautner
was innocent of these charges, and the Party’s injustice inured to the
government’s benefit. Finally Lautner had the presence of mind to state
that he had left at his hotel the name of one of the communist officials
conducting the star-chamber proceedings. He was released and returned to
New York, where he read in the _Daily Worker_ that he had been expelled
from the Party as an enemy agent.
Lautner even filed an appeal of this expulsion order but never received
an answer. Several months later he came to the FBI with his story for the
first time and since has testified in several legal proceedings. Such is
the way communist “justice” is dispensed in the United States.