John quickly became the fellow who “went up fast, down faster.” State headquarters, in a special report, severely criticized him and recommended additional Party training. The result: He was recalled and assigned to an insignificant desk job. He had to learn his lesson. Destructive criticism may lead to _factionalism_, which, in Party eyes, is open rebellion. A member holds a critical opinion. Others agree and soon a faction, or group hostile to the Party line, is formed. Every resource of the Party is mobilized to destroy it. For a show of democracy, the Party’s constitution says: Every officer and member shall have the right to express a dissenting opinion on any matter of Party policy with respect to which a decision has been made by majority vote of the appropriate Party committee or convention, _provided that such dissenting officer or member does not engage in factional or other activity which hinders or impedes the execution of such policy_. [Emphasis supplied.] In other words, in practice any criticism that “hinders” the Party line is called factionalism and is forbidden. Often, factionalism becomes so pronounced that an entire group is expelled. The Communist Party, with its unreasonable discipline and rigid structure, is peculiarly susceptible to factionalism. There are in America today a number of Marxist factions (called _splinters_), each small in number and with varying degrees of hostility to the Communist Party. Noncommunists will have difficulty in understanding the utter inhumanity of communist discipline. It is a discipline that pervades every facet of life, drives wedges between husband and wife, and separates families. The best friends today, because of a Party action, may become the bitterest enemies tomorrow. A Party member heard that her husband, a high-ranking functionary, had just been expelled. The shock was terrific. He claimed that he was innocent. “I didn’t do anything,” he stated. And he was right. The charges were completely false. But she refused to believe. She double-checked with Party headquarters. They said he was guilty. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Her eyes grew bitter and her mouth curled with scorn. Finally her decision was made. “Get out of this house,” she ordered. “I don’t want you around. You’re a traitor. Now, OUT!” Without hesitation she accepted the Party’s version, refusing to believe her own husband. The wedge of Party discipline had conquered. The husband was driven away from his own home and his own child. Loyalty to the Party supersedes all emotions of love and mercy and justice.