McCarthyism and the Red Scare

Following World War II, the Soviet Union actively encouraged socialism, supporting the idea of state authority ⁠ over the means of production and a planned economic system. Meanwhile, the USA championed capitalism, emphasizing free markets, ⁠ private property rights, and individual economic freedom(Wendy Rouse, 2020). The economy of the whole world ⁠ was traditionally under American dominance. The direct rival status of the Soviet Union's ⁠ efforts to propagate communism was widely acknowledged. Many Americans feared communist infiltration into the ⁠ United States during the Red Scare (Federman & Elias, 2016). The fear expanded as the ⁠ fear of communism grew. Joseph McCarthy oversaw a purge in the 1950s to uncover persons ⁠ seen as domestic communists and their supporters. The senator justified his argument about communists infiltrating ⁠ the American government by making sensational claims. (Wendy Rouse, 2020). Therefore, communism no longer ⁠ existed due to McCarthyism and the United States and its communist ⁠ allies experienced raised friction. ​