I just wanted to continue our class discussion on Friday about the comparison between McCarthyism and the current "anti-socialism" movement. To me, the parallels between now and then are quite apparent. Both are group movements involving a demagogue or group of demagogues who appeal to people's fears and emotions. In the case of the 1950s, it was McCarthy who stirred up fear of the Soviet Union by emphasizing the internal threat to the United States posed by government officials and college professors taking orders from Moscow. Now, however, its media reporters and radio broadcasters such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh stirring up fear of "socialism" and "government takeovers."
How similar would you guys say these two movements are? The biggest difference I would note is that McCarthyism was more of a national movement while today's "teabaggers" are a certain passionate minority. Thoughts?
-Bryce C.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
While there may be a few similarities between McCarthyism and the teabaggers, I think this generalization is too extreme.
ReplyDeleteThe Red Scare of the 1950s was a government run witch hunt. People accused faced serious legal repercussions, whereas the teabaggers are primarily grassroots groups questioning the opinions and potential policies of politicians. Even though some people’s opinions of them may be affected, there are no legal repercussions for those accused of socialism today. And there is a big difference between a group of people disagreeing with your politics and disliking you for it, and being accused by the government of treason and being nationally hated.
Yes, both of these groups are appealing to people’s fears. But to say the teabaggers are parallel to McCarthyism seems way too intense to me. In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say that comparing teabaggers to McCarthy downplays his impact.
~Elizabeth