Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1992, Page 37
Knowing the existence of or being allowed to go to any one of the party locations depended
on the party’s degree of trust in a particular member. Most often a militant worked only at
one location and knew only of that one location. All locations had code names, including all
party houses where militants lived. Militants were never to tell anyone (in or out of the party)
which location they worked at or what they did there. They were never to tell anyone where
their weekly meeting was held, who was in it, who led it, or what went on at the meeting.
All of the facilities (even the ones that had public faces, such as the party-run businesses)
were supposed to be secret locations. In some years, cars had to be parked at least two and
one-half blocks, around corners, from any party house or location. While at a party facility, it
was a security regulation that no one could make or receive phone calls so that the State
would not be able to trace calls to these locations. For many years, it was a rule that no calls
could be made from one party house to another party house. Public telephones, at least two
blocks away, were to be used for any party-related call.
The facilities were run by a leadership structure put in place by the top administrative section.
Much of the time in the facilities was spent in group meetings making collective criticisms of
someone. So much time was spent in these sessions that everyone generally had to stay later
than the scheduled hours to get the actual work accomplished.
Daily Work
Work included:
1) internal staff duties, or the administration necessary to keep the party running,
such as
--maintaining membership records,
--planning and monitoring recruitment,
--holding study and training sessions for middle-level leadership,
--doing evaluations of the membership for Sandra’s and/or Baxter’s review,
--planning criticisms, denunciations, and trials,
--overseeing party finances,
--maintaining security files,
--carrying out investigations,
--doing guard duty,
--planning protests and demonstrations
2) running complex businesses, such as a graphics, type, and print shop, a
publishing house, a doctors’ office, and a research institute
3) doing organizing work, either workplace, electoral, or community-based, including
running campaigns or sponsoring candidates in labor unions and municipal bodies
4) doing intellectual work, such as research, writing, going to academic and
international conferences, public speaking
5) doing infrastructure for the top leadership, Baxter and Sandra, which included
house cleaning, cooking, laundry, shopping, paying bills, dog walking, running
errands, gardening, chauffeuring, clothing alterations, house repairs and/or
remodeling, car repairs, delivering messages, entertaining, in sum, any-thing.
Controlling the daily environment was a major means of enforcement. Members were
expected to be at their assigned facility (also called a “department”) at all times, except when
at an outside job or some other preapproved assignment or meeting. When reporting to a
facility, they signed in on a log they signed out when they left they had to account for each
moment. Militants arrived either early in the morning, or immediately after work, and stayed
until late into the night. Militants with outside jobs were not to go home first to change
clothes or eat dinner they were not to stop anywhere else along the way. Generally, people
Knowing the existence of or being allowed to go to any one of the party locations depended
on the party’s degree of trust in a particular member. Most often a militant worked only at
one location and knew only of that one location. All locations had code names, including all
party houses where militants lived. Militants were never to tell anyone (in or out of the party)
which location they worked at or what they did there. They were never to tell anyone where
their weekly meeting was held, who was in it, who led it, or what went on at the meeting.
All of the facilities (even the ones that had public faces, such as the party-run businesses)
were supposed to be secret locations. In some years, cars had to be parked at least two and
one-half blocks, around corners, from any party house or location. While at a party facility, it
was a security regulation that no one could make or receive phone calls so that the State
would not be able to trace calls to these locations. For many years, it was a rule that no calls
could be made from one party house to another party house. Public telephones, at least two
blocks away, were to be used for any party-related call.
The facilities were run by a leadership structure put in place by the top administrative section.
Much of the time in the facilities was spent in group meetings making collective criticisms of
someone. So much time was spent in these sessions that everyone generally had to stay later
than the scheduled hours to get the actual work accomplished.
Daily Work
Work included:
1) internal staff duties, or the administration necessary to keep the party running,
such as
--maintaining membership records,
--planning and monitoring recruitment,
--holding study and training sessions for middle-level leadership,
--doing evaluations of the membership for Sandra’s and/or Baxter’s review,
--planning criticisms, denunciations, and trials,
--overseeing party finances,
--maintaining security files,
--carrying out investigations,
--doing guard duty,
--planning protests and demonstrations
2) running complex businesses, such as a graphics, type, and print shop, a
publishing house, a doctors’ office, and a research institute
3) doing organizing work, either workplace, electoral, or community-based, including
running campaigns or sponsoring candidates in labor unions and municipal bodies
4) doing intellectual work, such as research, writing, going to academic and
international conferences, public speaking
5) doing infrastructure for the top leadership, Baxter and Sandra, which included
house cleaning, cooking, laundry, shopping, paying bills, dog walking, running
errands, gardening, chauffeuring, clothing alterations, house repairs and/or
remodeling, car repairs, delivering messages, entertaining, in sum, any-thing.
Controlling the daily environment was a major means of enforcement. Members were
expected to be at their assigned facility (also called a “department”) at all times, except when
at an outside job or some other preapproved assignment or meeting. When reporting to a
facility, they signed in on a log they signed out when they left they had to account for each
moment. Militants arrived either early in the morning, or immediately after work, and stayed
until late into the night. Militants with outside jobs were not to go home first to change
clothes or eat dinner they were not to stop anywhere else along the way. Generally, people
