Communism

Back in the day, all Americans were worried about was a Red Invasion. Americans feared communism as much as they feared anything else because it was pumped into their brains day after day that Communism was bad and Capitalism is the way to go. But the average citizen never really took the time to think about this issue. All communism is is a system of government, not some mysterious and deadly virus that could happen to you. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way an advocate for communism, but it was just something that was a huge fear for Americans for so long and their fear of communism effected their entire lives. Now communism isn't a threat to America or Americans at all; it has since been replaced by global terrorism. However, communism is not a thing of the past. China is a communist country and is the fastest industrializing nation in the world. But most Americans don't fear the Chinese like how we used to fear the Russians. The reason for this is the same reason for everything: the media. In the 1950's all anyone on the radio or television talked about was suppressing communism and never allowing it to reach U.S. soil. But since the fall of the USSR, and since I've been old enough to be involved in the world around me, communism is rarely mentioned on TV. There is no Red Scare and there are no anarchist hunts for "commie scum" like there used to be. There is no present-day Joe McCarthy and there is no real fear of any one nation. That is what made communism such a convenient thing to hate. It belonged to Russia, an actual country with boundaries and government. Terrorism, on the other hand, does not belong to any one country. It is spread out among groups that are harder to track down and persecute. But there are some similarities, such as Americans being accused as bring terrorists or communists while working in the U.S. government, which is what the old Joe McCarthy hearings were all about. Nowadays, even Barack Obama is being accused of being a terrorist just because of an unfortunate photo opportunity. Some day, global terror will be gone from the daily headlines, only to be replaced by some new threat because after all, if the people don't feel threatened, then they're gonna get weak!