Granville Hicks’ Small Town  

The Capital District is an urban complex around Albany, New York. It includes Troy, a winter-beaten sort of city, with shops and factories, old enough to have a down-town section with much of the architectural charm of Louisburg Square in …



Moral Dave Beck – Unethical Scapegoat  

Speaking at the 16th Convention of the United Automobile Workers Union in Atlantic City, Monsignor Higgins, who has agreed to serve on the public watchdog committee created by the UAW to advertise its integrity to the world, declared that organization …



The Auto Worker  

It has been said that every industry breeds its own type of man. True though this is of the auto industry, it would still be a mistake to infer a “composite auto worker” or a “typical auto worker.” Anyone writing …



The Anxious South  

In the South these days everybody’s world seems to be falling apart. People float about in uncertainties. Old landmarks are disappearing. The new ones do not bring assurance. There are calls to action; but will the proposals make things better …



Portraits and Profiles-a Foreword  

This issue of DISSENT is devoted to reports and interpretations—mostly reports—of the American scene. We have asked a number of writers to describe those aspects of our national life with which they are most familiar. What they wrote, we have …



Bad Conscience to Budapest Complex  

During a press conference held last January by the Hungarian writer Ignotus, a French surrealist poet (politically Marxist but anti-Stalinist) asked him what was the theoretical platform of the Workers’ Councils during the October uprising. It seemed that he needed …



A Southern Conceit  

SEGREGATION, THE INNER CONFLICT IN THE SOUTH, by Robert Penn Warren. Random House. The publisher’s wrapper speaks of this little book as a “sympathetic, fair, and honest report.” And so it is. Yet it is disingenuous and not disinterest. ed, …









Poujade and the Sickness of France  

The appearance of 52 Poujadists in the French Chamber of Deputies came as a shock to all parties. Some of these deputies have since been turned out by deft parliamentary maneuvering and others have resigned; but the reality of their …



The Unions and the 5th Amendment  

The AFL-CIO, troubled by moral decay and a deep conflict of union philosophies within its ranks, has adopted a “code of ethics” to rid itself of such practices as milking health and welfare funds, accepting bribes and granting charters to …



The Negroes Find Their Own Way  

Back in the age of innocence (November 1903 to be exact) the International Socialist Review devoted a leading article to “the Negro problem.” It was signed by Eugene V. Debs. Writing from deep in Louisiana, Debs had some colorful observations …





Hungary and the Failure of the Left  

Events in Hungary, The Manchester Guardian has written, have “slightly weakened the Communists, without rallying the nonCommunist left.” The words were intended to describe the French political scene, where the cry “Algeria!” greets any socialist attempt to express sympathy with …