A variation of an old theme
We’re living in a world of increasing edicts and mandates that come from the top down and affect all of us and while these actions may be taken presumably for the public good, let’s nonetheless be carefool and awfully sure that the rules that are levied do not as an outcome erode our basic rights within a democracy.
We saw Forbes come out with a statement saying essentially that anyone who associated with Trump, who worked for him in the White House or who supported him in any way cannot be trusted and that they should by virtue of their association be viewed as liars. Forbes said, hire anyone who works with or supported Trump, “and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie.” Other companies have followed suit and it’s been like dominos falling ever since. Anything connected with Trump is suddenly poison or taboo and no one should go near it. Whatever your opinion of Trump as president, this is nonetheless both shocking and regrettable, but it has become a signature of our times in what’s come to be known as the cancel culture.
Is this practice new? No; it’s a variation on an old theme. It’s just begun to surface again and it fits the narrative and the agenda of whomever is in power. We can look back to the 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin as chairman of the Committee on Government Operations of the Senate, launched a series of investigations into various government departments and people aimed at rooting out communists. Following World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union being on opposite sides ideologically went into a period known as the “Cold War,” pitting the United States and the then Communist Soviet Union against each other. As this Cold War intensified, a frenzy over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. Our government responded by creating the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1938, which was charged with identifying Communist threats in the United States. Their role, to investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities from those suspected of having Communist ties.
In hindsight, most would view McCarthy and his witchhunts as dangerous, an assault on our freedoms and a threat to the basic liberties as guaranteed by the constitution but fast forward to the present, have we abandoned the practices of McCarthyism or have we slipped back into them?
There is no place in America for banishment and censorship, not in a healthy democracy.
—Howard Glasser, Kelseyville