3. _The Party’s callous disregard of members’ personal problems._ A Party official’s wife was sick. He asked for time off. It was refused. Or, a member’s home must be mortgaged in a fund drive. And if he cannot make payments, it’s his hard luck. Again, an old-time member was sent underground. He was instructed to change his name, sell his car and personal belongings, leave his wife and not contact her. He asked Party permission to visit his family. The answer: no. He came home anyhow and was severely disciplined. No wonder more and more members are asking, “Why continue to be exploited?” 4. _Discrepancy between Party practices and claims._ As we have seen, many members join in the mistaken belief that the Party will improve some social evil, such as racial inequality or inadequate housing. “It is frankly recognized in Communist theory,” one disillusioned old-timer confessed, “that the whole strategy is not for the main purpose of Negro liberation, but for the purpose of the proletarian revolution.” “My dissatisfaction with the Party and my break with the Party came about through a gradual process as a result of the realization that Party policy was a detriment to true trade unionism.” Like Barbara Hartle, dubious communists see the internal squabbles and feuds, rigged elections, trumped-up evidence, the striving to be little commissars. Party leaders stay in fancy hotels or take vacations, while rank-and-file members are hounded to donate the last dollar. All this is disillusioning, especially in an organization that claims to be working for a just society. 5. _Communist tyranny in Russia and behind the Iron Curtain._ The sensational revelations of Khrushchev concerning the crimes of Stalin rocked the Party apparatus. Then came indisputable evidence of anti-Semitism in Russia and in November, 1956, the capping blow, suppression of Hungary by Soviet troops, the spectacle of a self-proclaimed leader of “people’s rights” physically strangling a people’s demand for liberty. This caused Howard Fast to strike violently at the Party that could give birth to “the explosive and hellish revelations of the Khrushchev ‘secret report’” when he said: I felt a sense of unmitigated mental nausea at the realization that I had supported and defended this murderous bloodbath, and I felt, as so many did then, a sense of being a victim of the most incredible swindle in modern times. About Hungary: “From Hungary and its tragedy we learned of a new kind of socialism—socialism by slaughter and terror.” No wonder Fast laments, “A lifelong structure of belief lies shattered around me....”