red scare
Anti-leftist mass hysteria
A red scare is a period of widespread fear about communist influence or infiltration, typically marked by accusations, investigations, and suppression of suspected leftists.
The term applies to any such panic: The company's loyalty oaths were remnants of a red scare mentality.
Red refers to communism's symbolic color. (Capitalized Red Scare refers to specific historical episodes in the United States.)
Irrational persecution fears
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
- fearEmotional response to threat
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- witch huntPersecuting supposed wrongdoers
persecution · scapegoating · accusation · distrust · alarmism · anxiety · dread · apprehension
Collective ownership system
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
- BolshevismLenin's revolutionary communist ideology
- socialismCommunal economic control
- collectivismGroup primacy doctrine
revolution · proletariat · class struggle · subversion · sedition · radical · leftist · agitator
Systematic uncritical belief instillation
- brainwashingCoercive psychological manipulation
- disinformationIntentional deceptive falsehoods
- misinformationFalse data spread unintentionally
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
pamphlet · poster · manipulation · demagoguery · fearmongering · agitprop · scaremongering · vilification
Formal public accusation
- loyalty oathSworn commitment to faithfulness
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
- purgeEliminate unwanted elements
- ostracismBanishment from a group
informant · testimony · hearing · accusation
paranoia
Irrational persecution fears
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
- fearEmotional response to threat
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
witch hunt · persecution · scapegoating · accusation · distrust · alarmism · anxiety · dread · apprehension · overreaction
communism
Collective ownership system
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
- BolshevismLenin's revolutionary communist ideology
- socialismCommunal economic control
collectivism · revolution · proletariat · class struggle · subversion · sedition · radical · leftist · agitator · sympathizer
indoctrination
Systematic uncritical belief instillation
- brainwashingCoercive psychological manipulation
- disinformationIntentional deceptive falsehoods
- misinformationFalse data spread unintentionally
censorship · pamphlet · poster · manipulation · demagoguery · fearmongering · agitprop · scaremongering · vilification
denunciation
Formal public accusation
- loyalty oathSworn commitment to faithfulness
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
- purgeEliminate unwanted elements
ostracism · informant · testimony · hearing · accusation
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- 20th Century HistoryWorld War I, WWI, Great Depression, Russian Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- fearmongeringscaremongering, fearmongering, fear tactics, alarmism, panic spreading
- postwar eraMarshall Plan, prosperity, reconstruction, Cold War, iron curtain
- Truman EraTruman, Truman Doctrine, Fair Deal, buck stops here, whistle-stop tour
red scaredue process
Guaranteed judicial fairness
civil discourse · proportional response · judicial restraint
red scarefree expression
Unrestrained communication of ideas
open society · civil liberties · freedom of thought · marketplace of ideas · political amnesty
red, scare, scared, redness, reds, reddest, reddening, scariest, scarier