in the form of an opening and closing hand. The opening is the vago
tonia and the closing the sympatheticotonia.
Your letter was most encouraging. We know here that we hit the
nail, but we never know whether the others also realize it. I think you
should not worry about whether the J oneses will write a positive or
negative critique. My experience is that a negative critique in our matter
mostly hits back at the critic. I would suggest that you send out as many
journals as possible to educational, psychiatric, psychological and
cultural institutions. We think it important that every reader gets the
feeling that the biophysical experiments and clinical observations are
and remain the core of all our psychological, educational and political
statements.
I wrote you already to ask you to write an article for the third
number of the journal. We would appreciate practical instances of how
children behave, especially when they come to the school from unfree
environments and how they adjust themselves to self-regulating* be
havior. This problem is, I believe, the most important problem of
education and will be so in a truly free society.
My bookt is being sent this week to you in many copies. I think that
the people who have not gone through the mill will understand the
journal better if they have read my book, which, according to people
who read it, is very easy to understand in spite of its scientific subject.
I was glad to learn that you changed from pessimism to optimism.
You remember that you looked upon me as a kind of utopist when I
said that the irrational in society cannot last for ever.
We had very encouraging word from Europe. I look forward to
seeing you in New York, and I mean it. You will not believe it, but my
orgone accumulators are far enough advanced to charge up living bodies
and I want you to have one. A long drink and a good long talk to go
along with it, and my European longings will be satisfied for a while
at least.
Did you receive the English translation of the Wark Democracy? I
wonder what you think about it. Wolfe wants to publish it in the third
number of the journal. About 500 copies of the journal's first number
* Self-regulation, a way of rearing children which gives the child freedom to
develop without the imposition of adult demands or adult prohibitions. Summerhill
was run on self-regulation principles.
t The Function of the Orgasm.