the problem with mccarthyism wasnât that the people accused of being communists actually werenât (many of them were communists politically) it was that that was an accusation worthy of senate hearings, job loss, blacklisting, and possibly imprisonment. it was that communism was falsely seen as a muscovite invention rather than as a global sociopolitical movement with pre-soviet roots and different methodology being used in different places and times. those accused and tried and convicted (of apparently utilizing theyâre first amendment rights) werenât brain-washed russian spies, they were regular american citizens whose one crime was wanting the liberation of the proletariat.














