Rewriting Communist History in the New McCarthy Era

The U.S. supported brutal dictatorships in its fight against communism, proving it had nothing to do with human rights, freedom, or democracy.

In this article, I discuss how the U.S. government responded to the perceived Communist threat domestically and internationally. I begin by discussing the domestic anti-Communist propaganda campaigns and mass arrests of pro-Communist sympathizers in the United States. Then, I provide examples where the U.S. government interfered in the internal affairs of democratic governments to remove Marxist leaders.

The U.S. viewed Communism and Socialism as threats at home and abroad. If the ideology behind those economic systems spread to the U.S. with enough popular support, it would prevent the wealthy from maintaining their financial status. In the case of socialism, they would have to share more profits with the people. In a Communist system, the nationalization of industry would destroy their ability to earn money in the private sector.

Contrary to how they portrayed Communism and Socialism in propaganda, the truth is that these economic systems were never a threat to Democracy because they are not mutually exclusive from Democracy. Democracy is a form of government perfectly compatible with communism and socialism.

Instead of choosing not to stifle opposition political parties, the United States government depicted communism to the public as a pathway to censorship and disruption in liberties. In reality, the government of a communist country can manifest itself anywhere between maximal respect for human rights or complete oppression.

Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover kept lists of tens of thousands of people who he wanted to arrest for being Communists in the event that the U.S. went to war with the USSR. In 1950, after the Korean War began, J. Edgar Hoover asked Former President Truman to approve a master warrant to arrest people who he considered to be dangerous for their political views. Luckily for everyone on Hoover’s list, Truman thought his plan was unconstitutional.

This video displays a note written on a newspaper that says, “J. Edgar Hoover sends agents into thousands of homes to drag workers from their beds,” as the narrator paints Communists as liars. Basically, they try to spin J. Edgar Hoover’s overly aggressive tactics to combat Communist ideology as propaganda when it wasn’t.

It is important to note that we’ve progressively become more socialist over the decades, which would make McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover feel as if they had completely failed if they were still alive.

The United States government planned the 1964 coup in Brazil for nearly two years before the military overthrew the democratic government and imposed a 21 year military dictatorship. U.S. involvement in this coup didn’t remain secret for long since they were sloppy in their execution. Now, declassified documents shed more light on how the U.S. sponsored a coup to overthrow Brazil’s democratic government in favor of a regime that grossly violated human rights.

In response to these crimes against humanity, Henry Kissinger said:

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