We probably have all heard of the supposedly ‘anti-American’ economic ideology of some of our greatest enemies. But your perception and mine of this way of life has not always been as it has been today. Throughout the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, American attitudes towards socialism and communism have drastically changed. Some interesting dynamics of this spawn in the early labor movements and their tendency to approach the left in terms of their ideals. It was often the result of economic downturn that socialist and communist ideas were flirted with by the American people. Yet times like World War Two advocate for the fact that American attitudes can change drastically. In many senses this change can be violent, such as the McCarthy red scare. Then as the Cold War raged on, political intolerance for socialist ideals was challenged by movements throughout the 60’s and the 70’s. This conflict would seemingly disappear as the Cold War would come to a close. Even though today there is no single significant socialist party that has any sway in American politics, we are most definitely still running into conflicts with its ideals. Battles for public healthcare echo the socialist spirit of an egalitarian idealized society.
I am very, very much intrigued by this topic. America attitude towards socialism and communism really have changed throughout the years. I do not understand socialism as easily as others though, so I’m excited to get a better understanding of it. History is fascinating, but I find if you went too far back into detail the thesis of your paper would be lost.