The game of manipulation. The United States itself is a platform for liars, as it allows each citizen to find comfort in lies on a daily basis. Each American has become oblivious as they’re unable to decipher between the truth and a lie. They’re blinded by their speculations that politicians have their interest at heart. In reality, the United States political system is corrupt. Citizens have a tendency to be subsequent to those who play the part of a trusted American. However, these “credible” Americans feed on the weakness of their followers playing a game of manipulation to win the hearts of their followers. As this game lengthens over decades, it’s origination goes back to men like, Senator Joseph McCarthy, who lived on lies in order to …show more content…
gain followers for his cause. He focused on the fear of the citizens and used his trusting reputation to his advantage as he fed lies to active listeners about communist intruders. As his lies went on, an outburst of paranoia spread through the country as Americans feared of losing their country to communist. Furthermore, Joseph McCarthy became responsible for the recurrence of the “Red Scare” in America and the loss of basic freedoms for citizens, as he manipulated the fearful citizens using lies and Mccarthyism leading to an uproar of paranoia that left the country in ruins. Fear. Fear takes over one’s body dictating the actions of each human. Humans become puppets to fear allowing fear to control their every move. In the case of Americans, fear played a huge role throughout the 1900’s as it led to outburst of paranoia and mistrust within the country. The fear rooted from the start of countries joining the communist society and citizens fearing the possibility of America being forced to join through a communist takeover. The first outbreak of fearing all communist took place in the 1920’s and was known as the First Red Scare. The idea of communism just began to spread around the world and many immigrants began to come to America leading citizens to fear communist entering the country. Americans had just gone through a ruthless battle in WW1 and feared losing the freedoms they proudly stood for. Luckily, as time went on this outbreak minimized eventually fading as spectators began to believe the threat of communism had been diminished in America. However around the early 1950’s the threat of communism passed right under America’s nose as WW2 came to an end and the Cold War began. The thought of a communist take over crept up on the American radar just as the fear and paranoia crept up on the Americans during this time of “war”. Similarly to the first Red Scare, the Second Red Scare took place following after a big win in WW2. Although Americans and the Soviets shared an alliance during this war, communism itself had already spread to other countries increasing the fear in America. Countries in east Asia took on communism showing the virus of communism had reached all ends of the world leaving Americans fearing what was to come as the world split into Communist and Non Communist. Following WW2, the alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union severed eventually leading to the time period of the “Cold War”. Americans feared the possible actions the Soviets would take against their capitalist country and began to fear countries like China as they too joined the communist ways. The Red Scare blew up into a bigger event as Americans felt targeted as a powerful, capitalist country and allowed their paranoia to lead their beliefs of countries plotting against them. The citizens of America became desperate for the feeling of safety, which led to their choice of being gullible to the words of certain men. Rumors traveled through the country leaving the citizens fearing lies. Everyone was looked at as guilty as no citizen knew the true intentions of another. The Americans feared spies, feared the loss of their freedoms, and it all rooted from the lies of one man in particular, Joseph McCarthy. Lies. Those who lie and decieve were once looked at as the evilest of all, however as decades went on in America lying became apart of daily life. Those who wanted to better themselves or wanted attention based their lives on lies leaving honesty in the dust. A prime example of an “incredible” liar is a man who became very well-known in the 50’s, Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy began his career life as an honest man from Wisconsin who strived to be a lawyer. He was lucky enough to pursue his degree leading to his career of being a small town lawyer. However, years later McCarthy realized he could do so much more in the world leading to his interest in politics. He became Senator of Wisconsin using a winning campaign of keeping a “perfect” image in the eyes of spectators. For example, he used newspapers to reflect this credible image, “If a combination of the McCarthy qualities cannot make a statesman than what can” (Green Bay Gazette Press). Using newspaper articles to highlight his qualities and getting his beliefs known caused a bond of trust between McCarthy and the citizens leading to him using their trust in his favor for his reelection. He began to crave more followers leading to his idea of becoming involved in topics that may have not once interested him, but were relevant, like communism. He saw the sudden burst of communism spread through the world and knew many still silently feared communist threats. In order to gain popularity and gain attention from his fading followers, he began to speak lies to the press of communist spies within America. He went on with his lies, sparking a problem in America in order to better his campaign just as any other selfish politician. Moreover, his techniques eventually led to a ripple effect of disasters for America. Technique.
As taught from a young age, in order to reach one’s goal sufficiently one must find the perfect technique. A technique may consist of reading one’s opponent or evaluating the obstacles that stand in one’s way. Those who master techniques are those who succeed. Joseph McCarthy not only smoothly evaluated his “opponents”, or American citizens, by finding their weakness, but he also took out those who stood in his way of success. McCarthy was ruthless when it came to his Senator role as he’d do anything to be re elected, even if it meant destroying America’s togetherness in the process. He began with using a process of accusing people or organizations without proof, which eventually was named after him as McCarthyism. McCarthy knew if he degraded other important figures or organizations, it would allow many to lose trust leaving an open door for McCarthy to convince them that he’s more trustworthy than those who were“threats to the country”. As this time period of fear sprang from his actions, McCarthy’s goal was to stand out as a hero. He believed if he tricked Americans into believing he was the root of safety his reputation would soar leading to an inevitable win in the Senate. He began by announcing to the press that he knew hundreds of communist spies that lurked through America. Since this was a sensitive time for citizens, as they were weakened by fear and paranoia , it didn’t take much to convince the citizens. McCarthy preyed on their weaknesses leading the …show more content…
citizens to become victims of McCarthy’s manipulation as he “proved” no one could be trusted. Although he started with a list of possible communist, he eventually began to point fingers at important people in order to degrade their reputations. For instance, McCarthy targeted a well known, secretary of state, U.S. army General and war hero, George Marshall. McCarthy used past knowledge of Soviets gaining territory while Marshall was the secretary of state in order “back up” his accusation against Marshall. Although it was big risk going against a war hero, McCarthy knew it was worth the risk because it officially convinced the citizens that he was serious in stopping any threat of communism. His actions using McCarthyism continued, due to the press entertaining his ideas constantly, which led to his reputation to grow rapidly. He was able to turn thousands against individuals using the power of manipulation to bring out the fear of all citizens leaving him responsible for the Red Scare in the following years. Consequences. In life, every action taken must be thought through because behind each action there’s a consequence that shortly follows after. Consequences work in a ripple effect becoming bigger depending on the action taken. In the case of McCarthy’s choice of lying, the ripple effect continued growing as McCarthy’s lies expanded, which caused America to face substantial problems. The problems rooted from the beginning consequences of McCarthy’s actions, the Red Scare. The paranoia left within each citizen during this scare of communist caused many to want big steps taken to ensure their safety from threats. Citizens who feared the threats of communism continued to listen to McCarthy and as his lies spread, the bigger the uproar of taking action became. The people wanted a change and wanted the government to use their power in proving communist had no chance in hurting America. Americans wanted reassurance from powers higher up than McCarthy and would stop at nothing to make sure people like the President were taking all actions to stop the continuation of threats. However, as the Americans pushed for the President and the government to be involved they didn’t realize the consequences that also followed. One must be careful what they wish for because in the time of panic and crisis the government’s reaction is much more intense than citizens. Citizens may cause an uproar of noise but the government itself takes actions that could potentially affect the whole country. The government chose to take action because the Red Scare continued to get out of hand. The government decided to enact laws and acts in order to “protect” the country from communist such as the “House Un American Activities Committee” (HUAC). This committee basically was able to question and accuse possible suspects based on their own judgement of whether one looked suspicious or not. It was created to outlaw communism, but instead it led to many innocent people having to go through trials of proving they truly were innocent. The committee was also given the right to invade the privacy of others with no warrant needed. It became a time of the government using the citizens fear to their advantage, as one author describes, “,...American freedoms of expression, political activism and press were more restricted than at any other time of peace in American history...in order to combat the Communist threat”, which explains how in order to “protect” the country, the government “needed”to take simple freedoms away of citizens. The government knew the citizens would be blinded by fear, while they created these circumstances leading to them overstepping boundaries of citizens. They took away freedom of speech, freedom of privacy, and it was allowed, since the acts stood as a “protectant” from threats. Domino Effect.
The poor choices McCarthy chose to make of lying led to the uproar of the people. The spreading of lies through McCarthyism led to the event created from terror, the Red Scare. The constant fear or paranoia from the scare led to the government being involved. Once the government became involved basic freedoms were taken from the fearful citizens. All actions have an effect and all effects have a root cause. In the case of the uproar of fearing communism, the root cause was Joseph McCarthy and his constant use of McCarthyism. All events led to the next, and as the events trickled down, America was left in a domino effect of constant controversy throughout the late 40’s and early 50’s. All in all, politicians have a selfish tendency to use others weaknesses, like paranoia and fear, to their advantage by manipulating the weak to conform to their illicit ideas drastically changing the world to benefit
themselves.
With the onset of the Cold War, a growing Red Scare would cripple American society – effectively plunging the nation into mass hysteria and unrest over the fallacious threat of communist infiltration. This reaction was precipitated by Republican senator, Joseph McCarthy, in his speech, “Enemies from Within”, delivered in Wheeling, West Virginia, on 9 February 1950. McCarthy paints communists in a particularly harsh light to generate anti-Soviet sentiment within the American public. He uses juxtaposition to engender both indignation and fear in the audience to achieve this effect.
Almost instantly after the end of World War Two, the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began to tear away at the thin bond formed by the two counties' alliance in the war. McCarthy and many other republican politicians believed that the democratic party, along with President Harry S. Truman, were not harsh enough on the communist party and they strongly opposed Roosevelt's New Deal. When the Republicans took control of the presidency in 1952, "McCarthyism," as it is now known. This new movement, McCarthyism, accused some Americans of being communist’s sympathizers and people that were suspected o...
...that people can yet again fear that the communists might attack and send spies within to destroy their beloved country. Take the evidence from the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club when McCarthy stimulated the fear that Communism will spread and their spies will overthrow the democracy through traitorous means. Take the evidence of the Truman’s Response to McCarthy, Truman stated that the Kremlin must have put McCarthy there to cause turmoil and that must be a reason why he must have caused the country to go into a red scare. Take the evidence of the cartoon from Herb Block, which showed McCarthy drive his car into innocent people who had no influence of the communist and were scared by McCarthy’s ways of finding communists. McCarthy wanted to be well known and decided to start the red scare so that everyone else can fear and be aware of the communist everywhere.
By the time Joseph McCarthy gave his Lincoln day speech the Red Scare in America was on full blast. Just a year prior to the speech the Soviets had successfully tested a nuclear bomb and China fell to the communists. There were problems both internationally with the Soviet incursion into Eastern Europe and domestically with Soviet spies in the United States. On February 9th 1950 this Senator from Wisconsin took advantage of the opportunity at his speech to the Republicans Women’s Club of Wheeling, West Virginia.
...y Wheeling speech created nationwide hysteria, and with its impeccable timing just days after the conviction of the State Official Alga Hiss for lying under oath about his association with the communist Soviet as a spy, fueled the fight on communism. (citation) McCarthy war on communism during the “Second Red Scare” did not leave any individual safe from accusations. He attacked government agents, entertainment industry workers, educators, union members, and alienated the left-wing Democrats. McCarthy helped to create the atmosphere of suspicion and panic with his growth in media coverage. McCarthy’s words made for big headlines and the media was quick to cover his stories. This exposure helped facilitate American approval of McCarthy and empowered him to make more accusations on those suspected of subversion. In 1953, McCarthy headed the Government Operations Commit
Although the Red Scare made McCarthy who he was he did not make it any better. Document 6 shows us a cartoon of 2 men driving in a car saying “It’s okay--- we’re hunting communists” This cartoon shows us the fact that people who thought they were doing the right thing ,such as McCarthy, were running their own people over in the process and still thinking that everything they were doing was justified because they were so scared. People running over others just made those people get up and wonder why they weren’t doing as much or why they weren’t as scared as those guys were, so naturally they tried harder. McCarthy was intensified by the Red Scare but his actions only made it worse. He was a state senator. A government official working for the good of our country. Citizens tend to have respect for people of his position and they also tend to listen. Document 4 states “While McCarthy is the worst sort of demagogue, many people listen when he yells, screams and sputters, because they are afraid.” This statement says it all. He may be wrong in his doings but people still look to him out of fear because he is a leader, a respected man, and also an excuse. Document 4 says “In addition to the persecution of many innocent people by this man, the greater danger lies, as you point out, in that those who should be eliminated from public life as being unfit or subversive, can now defend themselves by stating that it is merely
“The great difference between our western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, gentlemen, it is moral,” is one of the many examples throughout McCarthy’s speech of him assuming an overconfident or superior tone. His claim to own a list of 205 names in the State Department of communist sympathizers gave support for this arrogant tone, but when asked McCarthy refused to provide anyone with the aforementioned list. McCarthy also used this tone when he said, “The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores . . . but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation,” expressing the idea that no one but the United States’ own countrymen had the strength to defeat their homeland. McCarthy’s tone throughout the article is one of absolute certainty, and gave his audience the incentive to trust
The Movie “good night good luck” is incredibly historically accurate. The Movie uses authentic clips that show McCarthy and many speeches Murrow used. World War ended in 1945 leaving a broken Europe and a communist block behind. The United States quickly receded back to the red scare that had existed before WWII. The United States quickly set an anti-communist stance and prepared for a war against the communists. While the war never came some enterprising individuals placed themselves in powerful positions using the paranoia created. Among these individuals one came forward and began one of the most controversial historical programs. Joe McCarthy a nobody Wisconsin’s junior senator made his name when he gave a speech claiming his empty briefcase held the names of 205 communists. The movie “Good Night and Good Luck” tells the story how media ended Joseph McCarthy’s commy hunt and his political career.
As for McCarthy he accuses anyone he sees. He even began to question the integrity of
By the time Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy gave his first speech in which he accused 205 members of President Harry Truman's democratic government of being communist on Feb. 9, 1950 there was already a lingering anti-Communist attitude in the United States. Which is why his speech, given in West Virginia, far from Washington DC, and from his home state of Wisconsin, made such an impact. Most of what he said has been forgotten, the speech was never recorded, but what he started with that speech would win him and his actions a place in American history.
From 1949 to 1954, the citizens of the United States were overcome with terror of the possibility of being accused of Communism. Joseph McCarthy was an anti-communist zealot obsessed with rooting out perceived Communist spies and activities in the United States. Common opinion showed that McCarthy was a bully and a liar. The Senate condemned him for it because at the time, there was no evidence to support him. However, in recent years, evidence has come out that confirms the basis of what McCarthy said. There were Communists infiltrating America, and it seemed McCarthy was the only one who actively trying to find it. McCarthy governed the U.S. people with fear for three year, was censored, and now is being proven correct, despite people trying to hide the truth.
Similarly, McCarthy accused innocent people of being communists in order to get what he wanted: popularity in the political race for reelection as senator of Wisconsin (“Persecution” 1). McCarthy gained his credibility through Whittaker Chambers’ admittance of being a communist and Chambers’ revelation of other communists (“Whittaker Chambers” 1).
The leader of this modern day witch-hunt was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, who was a dishonest and corrupt man. “Although a junior senator, he refused to follow Senate rules and customs, specialized in malicious attacks on his colleagues, and frequently thwarted committee work by trying to inject trivial and extraneous matters into committee discussions,” Oakley says, describing McCarthy’s ethics. McCarthy worked his way up the political ladder not by honestly winning but with deceit.
McCarthy was elected senate after becoming a lawyer in his sate of Wisconsin. During the first few years of his term nothing major really happened until 1950. In a speech to the Women’s club of wheeling in West Virginia he stated that he had a list in his hand of about 205 known members of the communist party working for the United States department. President Harry Truman had signed an executive order that said that all communists or fascists could not obtain a United States government job. The FBI played a big role in the investigation of this list McCarthy contained. McCarthy’s friend j. Edgar Hoover, which was a violent ant-communist in the federal government, could not wait to expose the people McCarthy accused of being communists. McCarthy’s list created a nationwide scar among the people of the United States. Everything McCarthy said was a lie and he had no evidence to show that the people he accused were really communist but, because of the start of the Korean War and the arrest of two American soldiers accused of spying on the Soviet Union American citizen...
"(Cook p77). Fear was the greatest underlying cause of the McCarthy movement; fear of communism, fear of the loss of freedom, fear of being accused or fear of what would happen if someone challenged the movement. Works Cited Rogin, Paul. The 'Standard'. The Intellectuals and McCarthy: the Radical.