Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1992, Page 20
given a schedule to repay the party for the “training” they received. This was sometimes in
the thousands of dollars.
Baxter set up an elite group within the WDU called the Eagles whose job it was to carry out
many of these assignments. Eagles received special training in security precautions and
physical fitness from an ex-Marine member. Eagles served as Baxter’s personal bodyguards,
as monitors during demonstrations, as disrupters, goons, and rabble-rousers whenever
needed. Baxter rarely went anywhere without her highly trained, huge Rottweiler guard dog,
plus an attendant or bodyguard.
The Experiment Works
In the day-to-day process of the WDU’s formation, everything that was happening took on a
seriousness heretofore unknown --the directed study, the intensity of the debates, the
sophistication of Baxter’s writings and polemics, the acceptance of discipline, the lengthy
meetings, the institutionalization of criticism and self-criticism, even the first expulsion of one
of their own. Baxter began to represent the living embodiment of their goals and ideals. Now
the founders and their newly recruited members could be revolutionaries with their own
organization and with their own revolutionary leadership.
The members spent more and more time together, bound by a shared political commitment
and a vision of the future. Their energies in every waking hour were spent on perfecting
themselves in the image of the cadre ideal. They worked feverishly toward building a party
that would be new and different, Marxist and feminist, nondogmatic and American.
They knew that this was not an easy calling. As one founder reflected on the intense feelings
of those early days, she said, “There was a strong sense that one must be willing to make
sacrifices and be very committed. The view was that it’s a dirty job and someone has to do it.
We lived by the words in Brecht’s poems, you know,
Alas, we
Who wished to lay the foundations of kindness
Could not ourselves be kind.
But you, when at last it comes to pass
That man can help his fellow man,
Do not judge us
Too harshly.
That justifies a lot of things,” she sighed.
A Group Dynamic
And so it came to be that Doreen Baxter, a roughhewn but well-educated woman from a
background of urban poverty, brought into existence an organization totally at her command -
-an organization that exhibited the most extreme sort of cultic behavior. Baxter, as the
leader, imposed the particularities of her own beliefs, as well as her own insecurities and
neuroses, on the group’s written ideology and its stated goals, and, of course, on her
followers. Her personal need to affirm herself by dominating others was played out to its
fullest during the formation and development of the WDU.
Indeed, at this time in history, there were people for whom Baxter’s combination of working-
class feminism and her new approach to Marxism held a certain appeal. This blending of class
and feminist consciousness, along with a solid commitment to left-wing political activism and
self-sacrificing revolutionism, served as a powerful and persuasive argument for many a
recruit. For some, Baxter and the WDU had all the answers in a troubled time.
An equally significant factor in the WDU’s formation and growth was the dynamic of
alcoholism, abuse, and codependence. At least 11 of the 13 founders of the WDU had
given a schedule to repay the party for the “training” they received. This was sometimes in
the thousands of dollars.
Baxter set up an elite group within the WDU called the Eagles whose job it was to carry out
many of these assignments. Eagles received special training in security precautions and
physical fitness from an ex-Marine member. Eagles served as Baxter’s personal bodyguards,
as monitors during demonstrations, as disrupters, goons, and rabble-rousers whenever
needed. Baxter rarely went anywhere without her highly trained, huge Rottweiler guard dog,
plus an attendant or bodyguard.
The Experiment Works
In the day-to-day process of the WDU’s formation, everything that was happening took on a
seriousness heretofore unknown --the directed study, the intensity of the debates, the
sophistication of Baxter’s writings and polemics, the acceptance of discipline, the lengthy
meetings, the institutionalization of criticism and self-criticism, even the first expulsion of one
of their own. Baxter began to represent the living embodiment of their goals and ideals. Now
the founders and their newly recruited members could be revolutionaries with their own
organization and with their own revolutionary leadership.
The members spent more and more time together, bound by a shared political commitment
and a vision of the future. Their energies in every waking hour were spent on perfecting
themselves in the image of the cadre ideal. They worked feverishly toward building a party
that would be new and different, Marxist and feminist, nondogmatic and American.
They knew that this was not an easy calling. As one founder reflected on the intense feelings
of those early days, she said, “There was a strong sense that one must be willing to make
sacrifices and be very committed. The view was that it’s a dirty job and someone has to do it.
We lived by the words in Brecht’s poems, you know,
Alas, we
Who wished to lay the foundations of kindness
Could not ourselves be kind.
But you, when at last it comes to pass
That man can help his fellow man,
Do not judge us
Too harshly.
That justifies a lot of things,” she sighed.
A Group Dynamic
And so it came to be that Doreen Baxter, a roughhewn but well-educated woman from a
background of urban poverty, brought into existence an organization totally at her command -
-an organization that exhibited the most extreme sort of cultic behavior. Baxter, as the
leader, imposed the particularities of her own beliefs, as well as her own insecurities and
neuroses, on the group’s written ideology and its stated goals, and, of course, on her
followers. Her personal need to affirm herself by dominating others was played out to its
fullest during the formation and development of the WDU.
Indeed, at this time in history, there were people for whom Baxter’s combination of working-
class feminism and her new approach to Marxism held a certain appeal. This blending of class
and feminist consciousness, along with a solid commitment to left-wing political activism and
self-sacrificing revolutionism, served as a powerful and persuasive argument for many a
recruit. For some, Baxter and the WDU had all the answers in a troubled time.
An equally significant factor in the WDU’s formation and growth was the dynamic of
alcoholism, abuse, and codependence. At least 11 of the 13 founders of the WDU had
