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<\/a>A young Joseph McCarthy<\/em><\/p><\/div>McCarthy had ruined a lot of lives. It was ruining the careers of people and families and friendships. Many Americans were accused of being a communist during this era. They then went through many investigations. Although McCarthy was accusing all of these people of being communists, he had little to no proof of any of this. Joseph McCarthy spent almost five years accusing people of being communists. \u201cSylvia Jarrico<\/a>, former wife of the blacklisted Paul Jarrico, who was fired from her job as an editor with Hollywood Quarterly because she refused to sign the University of California loyalty oath, says simply, \u2018We lived with the constant sense of being hunted.\u2019\u201d (Naming Names\u2026).<\/p>\n During McCarthyism, people were considered guilty if they were even associated with people who were communists. But a similar things is going on today as well with Donald Trump and the Russians. If anyone in his campaign ever met with or spoke to a Russian, some people are saying that he is guilty of collusion. Even if there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. They are presumed to be guilty just because of association. There was no crime actually committed or proven. This is the same thing that was happening with McCarthyism. <\/p>\n In the 1950s, the whole idea of McCarthyism had worked because it had played off of people\u2019s fear. This was during a time when Americans were afraid of Russia and the nuclear war. So even though there was little evidence to prove who were communists and who weren\u2019t communists, when someone accused you of working with the Russians, you were presumed to be guilty because people were scared and they would rather have been safe rather than sorry.<\/p>\n Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n Navasky, Victor. \u201cNaming Names: The Social Costs of McCarthyism.\u201d Naming Names: The Social Costs of McCarthyism<\/em>–by Victor Navasky, www.english.illinois.edu\/maps\/mccarthy\/navasky.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n History.com Staff. \u201cJoseph R. McCarthy.\u201d History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com\/topics\/cold-war\/joseph-mccarthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n