Explain why as after world war 1 there was a red scare in America following world war 2 McCarthyism do you think this anti-communism was rational or exaggerated or necessary?

Answer 1

Let's face it. Nobody likes losing power & clout. Whether it's Comrade General of USSR or CEO of USA. Well, USSR was the first example where an alternative to the "normal" or "de norm" mode of production was conceived. It covered a hug geographical landmass, and was expanding rapidly. So, that would naturally cause a scare in the US. Red Scare was the system's dictator status quo agents' knee jerk reaction just as u had repeated "blue scares" in Communist lands.

And following WWII...

If North Korea develops a nuke, it causes a scare. Eventhough they may not use it in a million years. So, in same light, I don't think there was anything "rational" about McCarthyism. But I just wished he made more intelligent Propaganda. I loved the way SOcialism- an ECONOMIC model was tied into freedom- a SOCIAL & POLITICAL concept. As if u can't have tyrannical capitalist regimes or democratic Socialist regimes?

What was most illogical about McCarthyism was that it viewed an economic model as an antagonism to something completely diffrent. Comparing Socialism w/ "freedom" is like comparing chemical warfare w/ Banana yield in Peru last year.

I guess nobody is going to "love" an opposing system, especially in bipolar setup, but McCarthy & Co should've added more logic to their arguments. Soviets also did SAME critique of capitalism, their points were about as "rational" as McCarthy's but they actually invested more time in making their arguments sound more professional to the neutral ear (who doesn't live in US / NATO area or USSR / WArsaw Pact area).