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History has revealed that there have been many cases of political hysteria where the fear people acquire is much greater than anyone can imagine, and it often repeats itself. Political hysteria manipulates American identity and assumes that outside factors are the reason for detrimental occurrences. In any given case of hysteria, there was always an ulterior motive for political gain. In American Hysteria; The Untold Story of Mass Political Extremism in The United States, by Andrew Burt, he explains political hysteria using different case studies that occurred throughout history. Burt argued that in each instance there is something going on, during that time, that sets the tone for each period of hysteria. Burt argued that these movements are not accidental but are motivated by a precise set of situations in which individuals with social status and political power see it slipping away. …show more content…
Burt observed the threat each crusade rose to the challenge, its allegations for who was to accuse, the means used to achieve its ends, and how effective it was in persuading more Americans of its claims. Burt also argued that political hysteria is fundamental to the national identity of America. Many people believe conspiracy theories so much so that they are prepared to give up anything—like essential constitutional rights—to keep the internal enemy at bay. Not only has hysteria displayed built in fears of social change, it consequently exposed the central players in these events as political opportunists. One such case, that inflicted massive amounts of political hysteria, was The Red Scare of the twentieth
Melissa Ames and Chris Hedges address the similar theme of political apathy in America, but deviate starkly in their respective audiences, tones, subjects, and methods of delivery. Because the authors possess differing viewpoints about the future of the country, are shaped by distinctive backgrounds and experiences, and have explored various unique concepts, one can detect a great degree of dissimilarity between the works in question. Even so, a thoughtful reader can also grasp quite a few similarities between their articles, “American Psychosis” and “Engaging ‘Apolitical’ Adolescents.”
When panic and fear ensue within a community the line between fact and lie often muddle together, only adding to the hysteria. This can be displayed by the society of lies and fear within America during the Red Scare and Salem Witch Trials, as displayed in The Crucible. In particular the Red Scare was fronted with massive propaganda campaigns that pushed false information, “I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the communist party and who. … shaping the policy of the state department”( I have here in my hand). The president here adds volatility to the claims of soviet spies being within the government.The reinforced scare and fear tactics pushed by every aspect of the government, including the president, enforces the idea that everyone should everyone else to be a threat. This is false evidence and only continues a trend of ignorance only creating more distrust and fear waslt it legitimized the claims. This is also evident in The Crucible when so many of the girls have solidified the claims of witchcraft and startled the town into thinking the devil was within salem. They are able to lie successfully many times over and hide the truth to wreak havoc on the town. Because of the false claims of witchery and devil worship proven in the courts of
The Red Scare is a term that describe the fear of a potential rise of communists that the citizens of the United States felt back in the 1920s and 1950s. During the Red Scare, Many people were brought for questioning that will determine whether they supports the idea of communism or not and some of them who were brought for questioning were unfortunate. Those who were unfortunate lost their jobs, friends and they were also black listed from their previous jobs.
Hysteria is an uncontrolled fear complemented with excessive emotion that leads to poor decisions and actions done with complete lack of forethought. The hysteria that existed in the town of Salem was largely caused by the people’s extreme devotion to religion, as well as their refusal to delve into other possibilities to explain the predicament of the time. These circumstances still exist today, and it is quite possible, as well as frightening, that a similar event could recur today. One would like to think that one would never lose control of their opinions and thought, but hysteria is a powerful force and can bring even the most intellectual of people to lose sense of what is occurring. More modern examples of hysteria such as the McCarthy trials and the ostracizing of people infected with AIDS show that learning to properly evaluate a situation for it’s reasonability and integrity prove to still be a valuable lesson for today.
The origins of the Red Scare have been debated and studied for nearly a century. Most historians believe that the Red Scare was the product of a public hysteria linked to the patriotic fever remaining after the war, the social unrest, and the fear that Bolshevism would spread from Russia. Urbanization, industrialization, and immigration of the previous decrease also brought social and cultural changes which added to the anxieties. Thus, it was concluded that the First Red Scare was cultural in its origins. Attempting desperately to avoid communism takeover, Americans deported “radical aliens”, barred socialists from holding office, and passed laws that made it a crime to speak critically about the government. However, there is much evidence to believe that the First Red Scare, a cultural movement, was not only cultural in origin – but economically.
American principles exclude a tendency towards survival of the fittest, but rather survival as a union. Throughout America’s history, examples of extreme hysteria involve support by a majority of the population. Howard Zinn expands on this idea in the novel Declarations of Independence: Cross-examining American Ideology; he states, “Historically, the most terrible things – war, genocide, and slavery – have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience” (Zinn). Subsequently, the Witch Trials of 1692 and the McCarthy trials of the 1950’s were an exploitation of hearsay, and encompassed the people’s ability to act on vengeance. The Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts and the McCarthy trials were run country wide. Democracy was also under attack during the time of slavery and more so upon the launching of the atomic bombs. Slavery was an institution spanning from the time of Jamestown settlements until the ending of the Civil War. Southern plantation owners were often those who fiercely defended the peculiar institution, and the Northern industrialists were avidly opposed to slavery. Moreover, the atomic bombs launched at Japan were used to retaliate after Japan’s attacks on Pearl Harbor, and caused forced evacuations of Nagasaki and Hiroshima due to unhealthy radiation exposure. It is common in existing society for people to cast blame upon the lack of unity within the population and disobedience of the people for current turmoil existing worldwide. Ultimately, history proves significant when examining people’s response to governing ploys in accordance with the ability for history to repeat. Political upheaval most often results from the people’s willingness to abide by legislation and fear tactics instilled in soci...
The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.
With the roots taking hold, an avalanche of accusations followed for the next few months. The beliefs that helped trigger the accusation that left men, women and children abused, murdered, or left to rot in jail came from false hearsay. Arthur Miller says, it is widely assumed that hysteria approximately close to what was seen 308 years ago could never again effect out government system. Today some events call assumptions to question; in some cases we see sticking similari...
After WWII, many Americans were apprehensive towards what the future of the United States would be like and what that would mean for their new coming families. Not only were Americans worried about other countries but, “…we were extremely suspicious of what was happening right here at home.”(From Lecture) During the Cold War, we were so frightened by the potential of the Soviets attacking us with our own weapon of mass destruction, we began teaching each other to “Duck and Cover”, a technique used to ‘protect’ us against falling glass from the dropping of an atomic bomb. Consequently, a man by the name of Joseph McCarthy exploited American’s fears’ by persuading citizens that communists were overpowering the government in order to gain votes
In the long years between 1947 and around 1957, fear of communism froze the very voices of America into unison. A supposedly enlightened country, the United States of America succumbed to the mass hysteria of the Red Scare with shockingly little resistance. Communist “Reds” and Communist sympathizing “Pinks” were seen everywhere and were often persecuted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (also known by the inaccurate acronym HUAC). Many of these individuals’ only crime was that of sensibility; they saw the truth behind the terrifying chaos. One of the best records of this dark chapter in America’s history is its literature, which expressed opinion when it could be dangerous to do so. The American public’s paranoid fear of communism and other extremist organizations is evident in the literature of the period, which reflects the conformist mind frame.
The red scare was a fear of the spreading of communism that began in the 1920s. “America’s capitalist ideal of conformity became the norm and anything looking to oppose this would be considered antisocial, dangerous, or even treasonous”(Sauers 1). This was what became the belief of most Americans who conformed to the typical views. A man named Joseph McCarthy used this belief of the people to convict “communists”. He told lies and tricked many people to back him in accusing these people. Many people lost their jobs and many people’s lives were ruined. I believe that all the people who conformed to the red scare accusations, led directly to the loss of freedom for many individuals in our
In Parker Palmer’s prelude of “The Politics of the Brokenhearted” he illustrates the importance of cooperation and communication when referring to the success level of democracy. Palmer is attempting to aim this prelude towards the upcoming generation, so they are aware of what it takes from both the citizens and the government in order to be a successful country. Throughout the reading Palmer mostly talks about how American democracy has failed, but also gives solutions, the main one being to communicate better. This essay directly relates to the world today as Palmer preaches communication, and we as the world today are starting to figure out that it is an effective solution.
People come up with crazy ideas all the time, many of which are torn apart by scientific evidence. However, some ideas are crafted so precisely and detailed; they are accepted as fact by millions of people. These alternatives to accepted history are known as Conspiracy Theories, and the people who create them are of a special breed. It is difficult to imagine having the time and passion to craft an alternative reason behind many of the world’s events and tragedies, but these people are born to do so. There is a specific recipe for such a person, a carefully crafted powerful concoction that breeds the hatred for government and the quest for the “truth”. Such people have been around for thousands of years, crafting stories from the days of Caesar and Cleopatra, and now there is proof of how such people become Conspiracy Theorists. The financial comfort, military involvement and general adolescent social experiences along with ethnic characteristics cause persons to devote their lives to questioning government and becoming conspiracy theorists.
According to Good & Nachman (2009), a moral panic is a scare about a threat or supposed threat from deviants or “folk devils” a category of people who, presumably, engage in evil practices and are blamed for menacing a society’s culture, ways of life, and central values (2). Often times, there is hostility displayed towards these “folk devils,” as in the case of youth from 1995 that were referred as “stone-cold predators” and portrayed as “dangerous,” with no respect for others lives, and no sense of future. The claims generated by the mass media (e.g., newspaper, television, magazines) about the youth and young people in America was out of proportion to the actual threat, which was intended to generate extreme fear and concern in mass public and, perhaps, collectively tried to get the public to take action by contacting their political representatives, demand legislation, and for believers to persuade friends and neighbors to join them in the movement to denounce the evil doings of these so called “superpredators” (“folk devils”) at the time.
Think terrorism and extreme activists. In some ways, their use of fear is more obvious, but when you peel back the layers, you can see just how far down terror, strife, and chaos sink. Terrorists don’t simply stuff up to make a point and strike fear, they do it to show what power they have over people. That’s why they torture and pillage, just to manifest how much control they have. It’s funny how the simplest thing in the world can have so much dominance in our daily