ATDTDA (2): Anarchy and Patriotism

[Tim Strzechowski]

I like Pynchon's puns on the word "striking" (50.22) when discussing the labor unions.
 

Pretty easy, in my opinion, to see where Pynchon's sympathies lie in terms of the labor movement, especially when he describes those anarchists with "regular Americans" and "ordinary folks" (p. 50).
 

The problem is, this chapter continues to develop the theme of reality vs. illusion seen in Chapter Five.  Consequently, is this passage to be taken ironically, since it's filtered through Lew's point of view, in terms of whether or not these anarchists *are indeed* "regular" and "ordinary"?
 


In fact, does the poem/lyric on pp. 49 - 50 help us in any way determine this?