Following World War II, relations between America and the Soviet Union were extremely tense. An overwhelming sense of distrust from either side to the other caused for many issues on both home fronts. Particularly, in the United States, many Americans quickly grew a distrust for Communism, as their government had ingrained it in their minds that Communism was a horrible thing.
Senator Joseph McCarthy was among the leading Americans who deeply hated Communism and what it offered. He became so well known for this opinion, there was a term coined off of his name: McCarthyism.
Supporters described the term, "McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeved rolled" McCarthyism was a practice of making subversive accusations towards Americans of either being Communist or of having sympathy for Communist people. Millions were affected by McCarthyism, whether they were questioned, accused, or were accusing each other. Many accused their neighbors and friends because the best way to appear to hate Communism is to accuse others of liking it. It often felt like an "accuse or be accused" scenario for many. The intense distrust during this time worsened the quality of live for many.
This is an interesting topic as we are going through a period of almost the same thing. We have someone in power that is blaming the nations problems on one specific group of people, and without providing statistical or rational examples of how, he has other people on board just because of his popularity and charm.
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