Hysteria
The term “witch hunt” is a commonly-used metaphor for any kind of illegitimate persecution. In the media recently, defenders of Donald Trump have used it often. “Witch hunt” is used as shorthand in our culture largely because of the resonance of the Salem witch trials, and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a major part of the trials’ immense influence. Any time anyone notices a media-fueled movement naming and shaming wrongdoers, it’s sooner or later going to be called a witch hunt, usually by someone that’s sympathetic to the accused. The reason the phrase is used so much is simple: people have a tendency towards witch hunts. Whether they’re terrified by something completely imaginary, like devil worshippers, or something based in reality, like the Soviet Union, human beings have a history of allowing their fear and hatred to cause them to seek out enemies and evildoers when there are none. Whenever the phrase witch hunt is used, the implication is that there’s a deeper motive for the persecution, and a disregard for the true guilt or innocence of the people caught up and accused.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, it’s clear that while people are being accused of consorting with the Devil, there’s always another motive. The girls in the town, caught dancing in the woods, try to deflect blame from themselves by blaming their activities on Tituba, who deflects blame from herself by blaming the Devil, which puts the whole tragic series of events in motion. Abigail condemns Elizabeth because she had been expelled from the Proctor household after having an affair with John Proctor and Elizabeth finding out. This all happens in a time of tension among the people of Salem, with various disputes over land. The rivalries and grudges that existed before the witch scare played out as the growing hysteria gave power to people who had none, and gave liars power over honest people.
Senator Joseph McCarthy terrorized the nation in the 1950s during the “Red Scare.” Government workers, intellectuals, and people in Hollywood were called before the House Un American Activities Committee and accused of not only having communist sympathies, but of supporting or even spying for the Soviet Union. If they wanted to clear their names, they were forced to make lists of people they knew who were communists. People who refused to cooperate were put on blacklists and fired from their jobs. Though during the 1950s there really were people in the United States who were spying for the Russians, such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, it’s clear that many people who were no threat to the United States had their lives ruined during the Red Scare. McCarthy wasn’t alone in persecuting these people. During the Cold War, the country was gripped by panic, afraid that the Soviets would continue to expand their influence around the world, and especially fearful that the issue would all end in nuclear war. During that time, schoolchildren practiced “duck and cover” drills intended to help them survive a nuclear bomb attack. This was before we were aware of the severity of the damage nuclear ration caused or bodies. Adults who watched the Iron Curtain descend in Eastern Europe and the Berlin Wall go up. They saw Russian-backed communists take over in Cuba, causing the Cuban missile crisis. In a way, their fears were based on real threats. As Arthur Miller explained, “the paranoid, real or pretended, always secretes its pearl around a grain of fact.” As McCarthy’s campaign went on, though, it became clear that his goal was to glorify himself and to prop up power for himself and for his political party and its supporters. Protecting America was just a justification for his actions. But he was successful for so long because the people of the United States already lived in fear and were susceptible to a strong influence.
The events of the Red Scare continue to have power over the American people. Just as Trump defenders decry witch hunts, every week, something else is “New McCarthyism:” Just in the past year, these things have been called New McCarthyism:
- Trumpism, since Trump, like McCarthy, is a publicity hog with no fixed political beliefs other than destroying his enemies, whose mentor is McCarthy’s sleazy advisor Roy Cohn.
- Anti-racist leftists, who are indiscriminate in accusing anyone they disagree with as being racist. Academics and corporate executives have been criticized and even fired for being insensitive about racial issues.
- Right wing organizations, for keeping a list of “leftist” professors who “need to be exposed” for polluting the minds of young people
- The #MeToo movement, because men who hadn’t been accused of serious offenses had been swept up along with the rapists, and even innocent people were smeared with false accusations.
- The Trump/Russia investigation, because Democrats are seeing Russian influence everywhere and anyone to the right of center is being branded as un-American.
In today’s media world, the terms witch hunt and McCarthyism seem to be used mainly as a way to undermine or attack movements or trends promoted by your political enemies. Democrats call Trump a new McCarthy and point out that the right wing is trying to make new blacklists. Meanwhile Trump decries being the subject of a witch hunt and Republicans accuse the left of reigniting the Red Scare with its insistence that Russia is trying to infiltrate the government. We have apparently learned one of the lessons of The Crucible well: when accusations are being made, learn the motives of the accuser. Hopefully we will also follow the other lesson: don’t allow hysteria to create an environment where liars use it as a weapon against the honest.