The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1934-09-27

strike mere, virtues MISS ASOuSI
from Minneapolis. Although they
were in great sympathy they did
not know how to act, they felt
frightened, timid, inferior. l do
not exaggerate when l say that at
the funeral (of one Of the work
ers killed by the militia in the re-
cent truckmen's strike in Mime
apolis) l saw literally hundreds of
them who came there, who stood
outside (and many stood outside
Headquarters all the time) with all
the chaos of old reactions, indi-
vidualistic, special, etc.
Another thing: al hough these
people intellectually were won over
their old emotional habits made it
impossible for them to act, and al
though every one of them econom-
ically realized they belonged to and
were fas' becoming a part of the
working class still they were iso>
lated and emotionally incapable of
acting with others.
con the other hand some of them
did act but always in an isolated
special way.
"To enter into any mass move
mem you have to be born out of
everything you have been taught,
out of every corpuscle in your
body, if you belong to that class.
Workers know how to act together.
But in the middle class even the
family is corrupted, is no. a unit,
not a social unity any longer. You
are angrily isolated in your own
family.
"I thought at that funeral that
some of the middle class suffer
from an awful hunger too =.
there they stood unable to march
and hungry to be a part of
that great struggle too"
Minneapolis.
l have never been in strike be-
fore. 1t is like looking at some
thing that is happening for the
first time, there are not thoughts
and no words yet accrued to it. II
you come from the middle class
words are likely to mean more thar
an event. You are likely to think
about a thing, and the happening
will be the size of a pin point anC
the words around the happening
very large, distorting it queerly
It's a case of Remembrance Of
things past" When you are in
the event, you are likely to have &
distinctly individualistic attitude
to be only partly there, and Il
care more for the happening after
wards than when it is happening
That is why it is hard for a per
son like myself and others to be il
a strike.
Besides, in American life, you
hear things happening in a far anC
muffled way One thing is saiC
and another happens. Our merch
ant society has been built upon ;
huge hypocrisy, a cut-throat com
petition which sets one man agains
another and at the same time al
theology mounting such words a
Humanity" Truth" the "Goldel
Rule" and such. Now in a crisi
the word falls away and the skele
ton Of that action shows in ter
rifle movement.
For two days 1 heard of tn
strike. 1 went by their headquar
tiers, I walked On the opposite sid
of the street and saw the dark oil,
building that had been a garag
and lean, dark young faces leanini
from the upstairs windows. l ha
to 60 down there often. looke'
in. I'saw the huge black interior
and live Goals of living men NOV
ing listlessly and orderly, thei
eyes cleaning from their sweat,
faces.
saw cars leaving filled witt
grimy men, pickets going to tn
line, engines roaring out. staye'
close to the door watching. I di'
not 90 in. was afraid they woul,
put me out. After all. I could re
main a spectator. A man wearin]
a polo hat kept going around wit
a large camera taking pictures.
am putting down exactly how
felt, because l believe others of m,
class feel the same as I did. be
lieve it stands for an important
psychic change that must tax
place in all. I saw many artists
writers, professionals, esven bust
ness men and women standin'
across the street. too, and | say
in their faces the same longings
the same fears.
The truth is I was afraid. No
of physical danger at all, but a
awful fright of mixing, of losin
myself, of being unknown and los
I felt inferior. l felt no one woul
know me there, that all I had bee
trained to excel in would go ur
noticed. I can't describe what
felt, but perhaps it will come nea
it to say that I felt excelled il
competing with others and I me'
instantly that these people wen
NOT competing at all, that the
were acting in strange, powerfl
trance of movement together. An
l was filled with longing to az
with them and with fear that
could not. I felt I was born OF
of every kind of life, thrown u
alone, looking at other lonely pei
pie, condition I had been in til
habit of defending with various
! 141sL,J. e /.