> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 1 topic, 7 evergreens</em></s> #### [[McCarthyism is an attack on totalitarianism not communism]] During the 1948 midterm elections, [[Joseph McCarthy]] performed a political stunt, claiming to have the names of 57 communists working with the [[United States]] government. This note discusses this and other statements made by McCarthy and [[J. Edgar Hoover]] during this time. On the senate floor, McCarthy asks directly that [[Truman]] root out the 57 communists that work in the State Department, a number which had been 205 only two days earlier. ^[[[discussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 4] Hoover takes a less direct but far more effective root of calling on those who believe they have, "vigorous, intelligent, old-fashioned [[America|Americanism]]" to have "eternal vigilance," which was no doubt an encouragement to any listeners who may have wished to violently oust these dangerous Communists. The only definition of someone who is "American" that I can infer from these documents and statements is someone who is willing to protect a document written in the 18th century that has had to be amended thirty-three times in order to provide for basic rights, ^[[[discussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 2, page 2] and will do anything to stop Communists from pushing the [[government]] to provide them more rights. %% It seems the "[[America|Americanism]]" that Hoover and McCarthy promote is one and the same with the [[white supremacy|cultural homogeneity]] that justified the separate but equal doctrine that was deemed unconstitutional in 1954. ^[Lecture 19, part 2] %% Hoover and McCarthy do not do much to develop any idea of "[[America|Americanism]]," but they speak endlessly of what is un-American. When Hoover and McCarthy describe [[Communism]] they are inaccurately lumping together actual [[Communism]] with [[totalitarianism]], and even an [[anti-communist]] like [[Truman]] understands, that the [[Communism]] practiced by the [[Russia|USSR]] was, "not [[Communism]] under any circumstances, it is [[totalitarianism]] of the worst brand." ^[[[discussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 6] Hoover and McCarthy's statements are full of fear-mongering such as, "communists have developed one of the greatest [[propaganda]] machines the world has ever known," ^[[[discussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 3] when the modern sources reveal that the American Communist Party was never a large or profoundly influential institution. ^[[[discussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 5] They also intro the slander that has been slung at any [[Democratic]] politician remotely liberal for the past 70 years, "being the bedfellow of international [[Communism]]." ^[[[discussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 4] Of course, they both provide little course of action against this "dire" threat of a political movement that supports, "old-age security, houses for veterans, child assistance" and secures the support of [[Christianity|Christian]] ministers. ^[[[discussiondiscussionMcCarthyism sources]], Doc 3] McCarthy's attack on [[Communism]] is an integral foundation for [[Reagan]]'s presidency and the [[Rise of Modern Conservatism]]. ^[[[Ronald Reagan invented modern conservatism]]] It also played a large role in vilifying the word [[Communism]] in the eyes of the American public [[American's are scared of the word communism not it's meaning]] ### <hr class="footnote"/> **Status**:: #EVER/GREEN *edited 7:35 AM - July 08, 2022* **Topics**:: [[America]], [[Politics]], [[McCarthyism]], [[anti-communist|anti-communism]]