Occasionally a stubborn member will persist in criticism. That takes courage. He is made of metal the communist thought-control machine has not yet melted. He carries the fight to higher Party bodies. But he can’t win and out he goes. In one instance a member was accused of falling down on the job. The section organizer recommended that he be removed from both his Party office and the county executive committee. “He’s irresponsible,” stormed one old-time comrade, “and in the Soviet Union irresponsibles are not voted out of office—they are shot!” That’s democratic centralism, the organizational principle that has welded the Communist Party, USA, into a terrible instrument poised and eager to destroy this country if given the opportunity. 11. _This Is the Party!_ What about life in the Party, how members live, who they are, how they earn their money, what they do with their time, and how they get their orders? The following are accounts of day-to-day activities of Party life. Eleanor is washing the dishes. Her husband, Henry, has just gone to work. The two children are scurrying around the house, ready to leave for school. Suddenly there is a knock on the door. It is Ruth, who lives across the street. Ruth is chairman of the East Side Communist Club. Her husband, Robert, is state secretary of the Communist Party and a full-time paid functionary. “Starting the day out just right,” smiles Ruth. “The kitchen is all cleaned up. You can come and help us.” Ruth outlines her plans. The state office needs some typing done this morning. Eleanor was a stenographer before she married and often helps on a part-time basis at headquarters. She is a trusted member. But that is not all. In the afternoon Eleanor is to make “some calls”; that is, visit some comrades. She must pass out word that the next meeting of the county executive committee will be held on Friday evening. This message cannot be given over the telephone. Then tonight will be the regular meeting of the East Side Club. Eleanor probably won’t get home in time to fix supper. If she doesn’t, Henry and the kids can make some cold meat sandwiches. Besides, Henry is scheduled to meet with the state education secretary tonight and he won’t have time to eat supper anyway. Life in the Party! For good members nothing is left for life outside the Party. The housewife is doing typing, running errands, Mimeographing, arranging meetings, collecting dues; her husband, even while working at the grocery store, in the shoe factory, or at the service station, is thinking of his Party assignment that night, distributing literature, soliciting money, serving as a courier. The Party is the most important force in their lives.