My Conscience To Fit This Year's Fashions By Joseph Mccarthy

In the story, Democrats and Communists Senator Joseph McCarthy discusses how the communists are ruining the nation. The majority of the state department at this time was filled with communists which McCarthy did not think was right. He considered the state department to be an extremely important department and thought that the communists were infesting it and making our nation have tratorous like actions. The reason America was losing the cold war was due to the Truman administration being swarmed with communists. McCarthy claimed to know 205 of the communists and the ones who questioned his methods were the ones whom were the subject of attacks as well as smear campaigns. Then, in 1950 Millard Tydings dismissed McCarthy’s charges and considered

them to be “fraud and a hoax”.
Then, in the story, I Cannot and Will Not Cut My Conscience to Fit This Year’s Fashions was based on a letter written by Lillian Hellman.

It was a letter to The House Committee on Un-American Activities also known as HUAC because of their hearings they were holding on communist activity in Hollywood and in 1951 Lillian was summoned to testify. In Lillian’s letter to the HUAC she discussed that she was more than willing to answer all of the questions about herself, “I have nothing to hide from your committee and there is nothing in my life of which I am ashamed”. It was said that under the Fifth Amendment she was able to decline to answer any questions regarding her political opinions. However; she did not want that privilege. She wanted to testify regardless of the risks and consequences she said knowing that previously ten movie writers and directors were sent to prison because they refused to answer the questions. The downfall to her answering the questions about herself was that that meant she would be forced to answer any questions that could potentially be asked about others as well. This is where Lillian drew the line. In the letter she wrote, “...I am not willing, now or in the future, to bring bad trouble to people who, in my past association with them, were completely innocent of any talk or any action that was disloyal or subversive”. She did not want to answer questions about others and bring trouble upon them she considered that to be

indecent.
The two stories are similar because the reason for trouble in both stories is due to the communists. In the story, Democrats and Communists the trouble is brought by the communists supposedly being the reason that the Americans were losing the Cold War. While in I Cannot and Will Not Cut My Conscience to Fit This Year’s Fashions it was due to communist activity and peoples views on communists. In both of the stories people were punished. In Democrats and Communists they were punished by getting attacked and smear campaigns. Then, in I Cannot and Will Not Cut My Conscience to Fit This Year’s Fashions people were punished by being sent to prison for either not answering the questions about their political views. They both related the communists to being bad. The difference between the two stories is that Democrats and Communists was McCarthy talking about the communists and the ways they are negatively affecting America. While I Cannot and Will Not Cut My Conscience to Fit This Year’s Fashions was the latter that was written by one of the people who were summoned to testify. So, one was someone who was a Senator against communists and the other was a playwright and screenwriter who got chosen from a committee.