History Repeats Itself

            When I first started thinking about examples of a modern day “witch hunt,” the first thing that came to my mind was the Red Scare following WWII and the fear that everyone was a communist sympathizer.  Everyone was paranoid and began randomly accusing others of being a communist just like the people in Salem accused their friends and neighbors of being witches.  Then I read the back cover of The Crucible and realized that this book was written around the time of the Red Scare and was meant to reflect that paranoia.  I had forgotten about that from the first time I had read The Crucible back in high school.

            Looking forward to more current times, another modern “witch hunt” that came to mind was something that came about back in the 80s.  Day-care workers all over the country were suddenly being accused of abusing and molesting the children they cared for and of performing satanic rituals.  In many cases, there was no real evidence, just the children’s coerced testimony.  Most of those accused were sentenced to life in prison, although some have managed to get their convictions overturned in recent years.  This is almost identical to what happened in The Crucible.  There was never any real proof, just lies and hysteria that took control over a community and cost many people their freedom and their lives.

            Thinking about a present-day “witch hunt,” something that I thought about was our fear over terrorism.  This is definitely a huge international concern, and we have just cause to be worried and perhaps over protective, but sometimes I think it may get out of hand.  In America, it has cost all of us a lot of privacy.  Someone is always watching us and tracking our actions, ready to accuse if something even slightly suspicious arises.  Most of us are totally innocent, but there is always that chance that someone is not, and I guess it is a good thing to be so cautious.  There just remains the question of where do we draw the line?  How far is too far?  Do we start accusing based on stereotypes alone?  Imagine you are in an airport and you see a man with a shaggy beard and long hair wrapped in a bandana about to board your flight.  Are you at least a little worried that this man may be a terrorist because he looks like someone from the Middle East?  This actually happens to one of my uncles all the time, when in fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth.  There are lots of people out there who receive an accusatory glance as they walk down the street because they look like somebody or act like somebody and we’re worried that they might just be like somebody.  When one bad thing happens, we get scared, sometimes even hysterical, and we make rash accusations without thinking things through and fully realizing the far reaching effects of our actions.  As you can see, when it comes to fear over society’s wellbeing, history seems to repeat itself time and time again.