Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1983. január-június (37. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1983-01-27 / 4. szám

Thursday, Jan. 27. 1.983.

AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ

11

By Mike Quinn

You go to work and you go there knowing Some guy don’t know where he’s going;

Some guy wanders in the rain Hungry in stomach and in brain.

You work all day, you work all week;

Take it rebellious or take it meek;

But take it you do and your laboring brain Never forgets the guy in the rain.

The man in the rain can hypnotize With sick, humiliated eyes,

And every hour, awake, asleep,

He herds your thoughts like timid sheep.

The hours are long. The pay is small.

The guy in the rain has nothing at all.

Stand up, demand, protest, complain?

You too might wander in the rain.

The man in the rain is gaunt and lean;

He begs with apologetic mien.

He was clubbed to his knees ’til he learned to crawl, And his moaning makes cowards of us all.

As long as he crawls, we’ll crawl the same;

As long as he’s humble, we’ll share his shame. There will be no peace for body or brain As long as that man is out in the rain.

Turn out more work! Keep up the pace!

Or the man in the rain might take your place.

The price of your pride, if you’re indiscreet.

May be lonely months in the city street.

Those blood-shot eyes, that hungry look, Haunt you like the ghost in a book. Everything cowardly rises to meet The gaze of the hungry man in the street.

He begs for dimes with furtive shame,

As if he were himself to blame.

We give, or not, then flee his face;

For we might some day take his place.

The shackles and the whip are gone But still the slaves are driven on The fear of poverty and disgrace Is lashing us on at a sharper pace.

The fear of shame, of want, of pain;

The fear of the lonely man in the rain,

Is making slaves in a cowardly block Of folks of good rebellious stock.

One hundred million men and their wives Living cheated, hamstrung lives.

When, God Almighty, will they run From the shadow of fear and into the sun?

When will they learn that peace and ease Cannot be reached on hands and knees? No man on earth will ever find Peace while poverty haunts his mind.

No man can crawl to Paradise Down avenues of hungry eyes.

There will be no peace for body or brain As long as tha* man is out in the rain.

—c and drawing from Labor Today

Bernie Kay:

BOOK REVIEW

It comes as a shock to realize, that we know very little about Germany today. We, of the older generation identify with a time when we knew more about that country, then we wanted to know. It needs rethinking to realize that there are different life styles in both Germanys today. And there is not much around to tell us. So "Encounters in Democracy" by Margit Pittman subtitled "A U.S. journalist view of the G.D.R." fulfills a need.

The question is, how well does she do it? And the answer is:not very.

The time is not after World War II, when we were all participants in Cold War activity. It is 35 years later and there are different perspectives.

1. ) We know Stalin was paranoid. Not all cold war encounters were the responsibility of the capitalist class.

2. ) The book says "Women's equality is one of the basic measures of a society's progress." Agreed. But then there is a dig at the woman's movement in America that we "are still debating the merits of such legislation." She is of course referring to the ERA which was defeated soon after this book was written. Such a statement ignores that the struggle for women's rights in America goes back to Civil War days. That the European movement is still learning from this history.

3. ) There is no mention of the peace movement in West Germany. This was strong enough to slow down the rhetoric of the administration even before the June 12thdemonstration in New York.

I find it incredible that there is not one mention in the whole book about the Wall.l dont pretend to have the figures, but it is safe to say there have been hundreds of attempts to climb it, with a proportionate number of casualties.

This cannot be ignored. The wall has become a symbol. Who wants to leave? Why? You have to discuss these matters.

4.) There is no valuation of the mark in its relation to dollar. Essential if we are to grasp how the economy is performing.

The book is effective in detailing the steps taken to eradicate Hitler's theory and the Nazi leadership.

Also the involvement of rank and file in making policy is well brought out. One gets a feeling of interest. Workers are concerned and active. The author has done her homework.

In the overall, a more objective approach makes for better reporting.

DID YOU ORDER

"THIS NOBLE FLAME" YET ?

DO YOU READ OUR ENGLISH PAGE?

Dear Reader:

Our Editorial Board has to make important decisions concerning the possible extension of our English Page. We would like to know approximately what portion of our subscribers read this page. Please help us by filling out the coupon below and mailing it to our editorial office.

1 I I regularly occasionally read the English page

1—I I would appreciate a bigger English supplement.

If you have any additional comment or suggestion please write it here or on an extra sheet of paper.

Name:«________________________

Address:.______________________________

RUSSIANS QUEUE FOR RUBIK'S CUBE

MOSCOW (UPI) Two years after the fad swept through most of the world, Rubik's Cube has finally arrived in Moscow. But just try to set one.

Moscovites trying to get their hands on one of the multicolored Hungarian brain- busters lined up in 25-degree weather Wednesday outside Vladimir Pavlovich Grashin's Hungarian import shop.

Inside, Grashin raised his hands and signaled for quiet. He was sorry, he explained, but there could be no special treatment for customers pleading special problems.

"It would not be fair to those waiting outside if I made exceptions for anyone", he said. "You must wait your turn."

The militiamen on either side of him ensured his decision would be enforced.

Dima, 18, a student, had been in line for only an hour and he was almost to the front. He never had owned a cube, he said, but a friend had once lent him one on a long train ride.

"I found it an interesting brain teaser", he said. "Now I will buy two, one for me and one for my younger brother."

Dima had chosen one of two parallel lines outside Balaton. His was for those in a hurry. When he reached the -front of the line he was not given a Cube, but a number establishing his position among those who would come back later to try to collect their prize.

Dutifully Dima used his ballpoint pen to mark his number on his palm: 8715.

Grashin said he had received 100.000 Cubes after a three-month wait, and was so busy he forgot to take a Cube home to his 7-year-old son.

"It was the first chance I had to hold a Cube in my hands", he said. "I turned it in all directions. I could do nothing,

"Now, I have no time to deal with the

Cube."

Please give this page to a friend !

THE MAN IN THE RAIN