"Red Scare" impact on American life?
438384
It led to the horrible actions and encroachment of civil liberties against dissenters, much like the "New McCarthyism" (the fear that terrorists are ubiquitous) is doing today in the US.
168677
Having lived through the 60's & 70's I think the answer is yes.  Why?... I don't really know.  Maybe it can be summed up on a bumper sticker I saw the other day:  "If you are not OUTRAGED, you're not PAYING ATTENTION!"\n\nNow, having asked this, answered this, & read this, let's all get up and do something positive to make a difference!\n\nMany Blessings on your efforts....
991629
No. The majority of those who were glued to American Idiot would just find some other meaningless crap to occupy their time then actual problems and events in the world.  \n\nI can not speak for everyone, but it seems that people feel that they can not do anything about our world, (they are just one person) So, they decided to ignore it rather then follow current events.\nI feel that it is sad that people can tell you who's dating who or who had who's baby in the Hollywood world, yet they can not tell you any thing about our deficit or the war in Iraq.\n\nIf every one of those "just one person" got together and had some creative and intelligent ideas about how to make a difference, we could have a better world to live in.\n\nSo, turn the channel and see what's really going on.  Changes start with JUST ONE PERSON!
335022
Ronald Reagan helped Americans recall that being American was special. He was not cowed by polling data.\n\nHe chose strong informed people to surround him and he drove them to decisions in pursuit of the idea that Democracy would win over Communism.  While that seems odd today, at the time, there was no guarantee that Democracy was going to survive and flourish in the face of expansionist Communism.\nReagan used the economic engine of the US economy to spend the Russians into oblivion as they tried to match might-for-might. Eventually, they imploded as a result.
155721
In Europe and around the world, there has always been a strong element of people feeling that it is the government's job to take care of people, but this has not historically been the case in America because people have come to America *fleeing* government in order to make a new life for themselves.\n\nI think the problem really started with Keynes and the idea that men in government could manipulate the economy for the better of everyone.  Unfortunately, leading to and during the first part of the Great Depression, our government misguidedly inflated the money supply to a very large extent, distorting prices and capital investment.  Like a rubber band being pulled back, it had to snap.\n\nHoover tried many big-government solutions to the depression which only made things worse.  FDR campaigned that Hoover was doing the wrong then, then got elected and did the same thing, only more so.  All the big-government "solutions" only further distorted the economy (preventing the rubber band from snapping back correctly.)\n\nIn FDR's mad dash to spend as much government money as possible in order to stimulate the economy, he started Social Security, unemployment, welfare, and a host of other programs.  I think a combination of the dispair at the economy and the ease to sit back and let government handle things was the beginning of dependence.\n\nAs generation after generation grows up with the huge safety net paid for by those who don't need it (from each according to ability, to each according to need) then people know that they don't have to be successful and take care of themselves, because the goverment will have to be there for them.\n\nBy all means, help a deserving person out who can use help, but the automatic help for anyone, regardless of whether they deserve it or not is the real poison.
1180119
I think the most positive effect of the death penalty here in America is that it really pisses off all those pinko commie bleeding heart Europeans.\n\nI think that's more than enough of a reason to keep it around.
415117
Lethargy, mostly.\n\n"If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention," so says a popular bumper sticker.\n\nWhether we see it as a fundamental ailment or mere symptom, most people are largely ignorannt of political reality. Americans still believe they are free because they can vote. There is a bipartisan illusion that democracy is liberty itself and that state power is non-aggressive if checked every few years by majority vote; delusions. There will always be power-hungry people who wish to control. Most countries do not have a powerful Constitution like ours, designed to limit big gov't, and we have not protected ours, or enforced it, and it is back under dirty glass, hidden, unused. Have you even read it? It's only two or three pages, but most people don't know what it says. That is our only protector against the real evil: those that want to rule in a coherent force. What our forefathers designed is absent, and what they feared has happened. That is why you fear gov't.\n\nBut ignorance and fear do not a prudent democracy make. We do not vote for our Masters, who then obtain near absolute power. Instead of seeking representatives to safeguard our rights, people now seek strong leaders or saviors to redeem their lives and protect them from all harm. \n\nNobody is policing our government. We've lost interest, are lethargic, and want someone else to take care of running gov't for them. It is an end to the rights of the self-governed, when the self-governed won't govern themselves, or obtain real knowledge; not just media information. To become informed, involved, and really concerned takes effort, time, and the will to act.
461788
believe that we have degraded since the 50"s and early 60"s. think that is the last time America stood together on life issues. there was not family fall out like now. think people tried to do what was right even when it was hard. man tried to provide and make households survive while woman were trying to be thee best to be a mother not 100 different things and then a mother. (no way intended as a slam meaning trying to be a worker teacher home maker taxi driver sister daughter wife then mother is very hard. and not far back in the 50S most woman stayed at home and had the ability to be th mother they dreamed of. ) we treated our kids different as the future not as a necessity or interruption.
1024055
hmmmm. that one is tricky. but take ww2 for ex. the war was a big boost for the economy esp. since it started during the depression. it gave people jobs. and helped with the stock market. socially it wasn't so great though it did help people by boosting there moral as in getting jobs. but on the German front it was devastating to Jews and anyone the Germans persecuted. long term it ended up bringing Communism which as we all know isn't that great. so basically you are looking for anything that would be kinda like that where you could see a drastic impact on all fronts. good luck. hope i helped if not sorry.
36720
Here's a statistic to blow your mind. The Great Depression caused 1 out of every 3 Americans to be unemployed. Only with Roosevelt's plan of giving them government project work did America rise back up as a renewed superpower.
522655
I think it would be a reach.  The communists didn't really exist in the US and really weren't a threat.  Terrorists actually have had a serious impact here in the US and still exist where they can harm Americans.  That being said, we are over the making the situation worse and giving those who pretend like terrorists still exist on Every Street, USA reason to fear.  In time (and with different leadership) this issue will be easily controlled.  All it will take is someone with some decent statesmanship abilities and a IQ over 90 to take care of the problem.  Until then we will have to put up with them trying to sell us fear and terrorists as if they were household germs.
661656
YES...\n In every aspect of your life!\nremote viewing was an excellent answer, but just the very tip of the overall picture.\n Think back a few years to such things as LSD and the Cold War...the government has a proven record of mind control against the rest of the world and at home...\n it may not be with ray guns or anything obvious, but just the fact that so many jump up and say "NO WAY" shows, it's already working.\n Everything we see influences us in some way ,and how "they" choose to use it against us should be the real conversation here.\n if your really interested in more documentation ,feel free to contact me anytime about the subject.\n www.killthegovernment.com
894929
God bless you. I hope you have a safe return. Anti-war protesters, as in the 60's were a disgrace to our nation. It was the worst decade in American history. It is the decade that changed everything. They were burning draft cards, bras, and anything else that represented the "establishment." Lot's lived in communes in filthy conditions, having group sex openly, sometimes in front of their children, and high on one drug or another. Woodstock was their crowning glory. Their offspring are today's liberals, as they were raised with the same beliefs. And look at the children of today's liberals, a generation of ill-mannered, misbehaved kids. The teachers today have a hell of a job. God help us, because these kids someday will make the decisions. You are a fine example of what a true American should be. Your parents should be very proud of you. They did a fine job raising you!  50--upper middle class-East coast
373703
What a loaded question. XD \nOver the past several years, events in this country have caused feelings of increasing disdain for my fellow Americans (yes, I am American). I'm not quite sure of the one source this ignorance stems from, but I've widdled it down to either fear, the media, or blind patriotism. All those things do seem to connect. \nIf given the choice, I think Americans would much rather live in ignorance, feeling that they are the strongest, most powerful nation, where no opposing force can touch us. Whenever an event like 9-11 happens to destroy that false sense of security, people forget to use their common sense.\nOf course, the media does play on people's fear. They've been doing it for years, even before this whole War in Iraq fiasco. The news covers things like, "How to protect your 15 year old from internet predators," and "Bird Flu is coming, so stock up on imperishables." "How to keep your child out of the gun closet" is a good one too. \nBut during times of heightened paranoia, people really have been looking for a figure to turn to give them hope and peace of mind. Some will turn to God, believing that faith is the way to peace and safety in one's life. Then some of those will turn to Bush, hoping a man close to God will show them the way. \nBut if you were to take God out of this picture, you would see that Bush is two-faced and has no more inner strength and intelligence than your average blue-collared factory worker. \nOh, wait, those are in short supply in America these days. \nAnyways, Bush is just an average guy. \nSo why is he president? In my opinion, this is what really kills me, how twice he could beat opponents who had plans for the well-being of the country, who had better backgrounds, who were more knowledgeable about all the problems our country has... \nBut the majority vote went to the man who talked of patriotism and faith in God and country. In times of crisis, the weak-minded will follow the man who speaks of ideal circumstances. Bush pretty much sweet-talked his way into the White House. \nIt is really far more complicated than this, but I'm sure I've given a basic answer to your question.
426045
The bombings destroyed citites, killed people, and those that survived had to start all over.  \n\nAir raids in the United Kingdom were scary and instilled fear in people.\n\nMany civilians tried to leave or escape Europe for their lives/safety.  If family members were trapped and had to go to concentration camps, it mentally hurt the entire family.  Some familys even had to start over after WW2 and generations, pictures, and heirlooms were lost.\n\nIn America, the economy prospered.  World War 2 greatly improved our economy. Women got the taste of working outside the home, the stock market was on the uprising again. People were starting to make money and become prosperous. The government used ads to help boost liberty bonds, blood donations,reserving supplies for the troops and the enterntainment industry. America proved to other nations that we are a strong country. \n\nHope this helps.
782371
You bring up a good point.\n\nAs I began to educate myself concerning 20th century USA history, a compelling question leaped out at me, '..since all the wars evolved around stopping the spread of communism, WHY or HOW did communism threaten our way of life or our capitalist structure?"\n\nI mean seriously... our leaders felt so threatened by the spread of communism that they literally went to war REPEATEDLY and sacrificed American lives to stop it. Why? If communism is so bad and capitalism is so grand then what is the threat? Wouldn't the ppl themselves reject it?\n\nI honestly think the answer to that question is that when ppl truly do understand the fairness and equality of communism they tend to choose that over the class system of capitalism... that is what we feared. That is my opinion.\n\nBtw, your 80s data is a little off. We didn't have an encounter with Iran in the 80s. There was the Iran/Contra scandal in 1979 but that didn't result in military action. Gulf War 1, involving Iraq, was in 1989.
703198
People are afraid of capitalism the way we used to be afraid of communism...evidenced by countries shunning legislation that opens their markets to free trade.  Republicans are the new 'red' scare...lol