I never thought we would see the McCarthy years of the 1950s – where many lives of American citizens were ruined by accusations of being “communists” — return to the United States. Yet here we are — the McCarthy years redux, albeit with a different McCarthy in control.
One of the first messaging bills passed in the current McCarthy House of Representatives was a derision of “socialism.” My understanding of what the McCarthyites mean by socialism is: regulation for banks; funding the IRS.; providing health care and retirement benefits to the American people; reducing the huge income disparity by implementing a more progressive tax structure; making it easier and fairer for people to vote; and pretty generally seeing government as a positive force to ensure the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
McCarthyites deride all of the above and pin America’s ills on the vague word “socialism.” This second iteration of McCarthyism is hurting many more people, businesses, and the country as a whole than in the 1950s.
Janelle Heck, Millcreek
