Red-baiting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red-baiting is the act of accusing someone, or some group, of being communist, socialist or, in a broader sense, of being significantly more leftist at their core than they may appear at the outset. The term is used mainly with the intention of discrediting the individual's or organization's political views as dishonest and/or haphazard. The implication in red-baiting is usually that the target represents an ill-intentioned external force which has no proper place in a given political party, coalition, or union.
Alternatively, red-baiting can also be a tactic by a critic of communism wherein s/he raises negative aspects of countries or governments which the communist is supposed to support (notably the Soviet Union and China) with the intent of "trapping" the communist into conceding that his/her ideas are part of a totalitarian ideological structure.
Red-baiting is more often associated with McCarthyism. In the late 20th and early 21st century, it does not have quite the far-reaching effect it did during either of the two historic Red Scare periods of the 1920s (First Red Scare) and 1950s (Second Red Scare) due to the crisis of socialism after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and notable left-wing intellectuals and political parties of the West embracing Third Way centrism.
A somewhat contrary view would hold that there has been a persistent and concerted effort associated with conservatism in the United States since at least the time of Ronald Reagan of using a more subtle form of red-baiting to influence changes in the federal judiciary (by denouncing "activist judges"), the mass media (by accusing it of having a "liberal bias"), and the faculties of colleges and universities (by accusing them of being bastions of “cultural Marxism” and the academic staff of "reeducation camps").
Explicit red-baiting, however, came to be used by John McCain, Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election, when he labeled Democrat nominee and current president Barack Obama as a “socialist”. Many supporters and critics of Obama (including Democratic Socialists of America), however, have argued that his domestic and foreign policies are typical of a centrist Democrat,[1] and are more or less in line with those of Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Matthew Yglesias argues that the red-baiting of Obama may actually backfire because of the declining unpopularity of socialism:[2]
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Steve Benen observes that one problem with attacking Barack Obama as a “socialist” is that opposition to socialism isn’t as popular as it used to be:
The generational change here is interesting. I think it reflects the fact that on a basic level “socialism” is good branding. The whole idea is that we should put society first rather than capital, or money. That sounds good! But in the United States we never had a Socialist Party so “socialism” was primarily associated with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which was not at all good. But to people under 30, there’s less of that old resonance. And saying that Obama, who’s popular, is a “socialist” may simply tend to make people have warmer feelings toward the word “socialism.” |
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In April 2009, Spencer Bachus claimed that 17 of his Congressional colleagues were socialists, but would only name one, Bernie Sanders, who has been openly describing himself as a democratic socialist for years.[3] Sanders countered that American conservatives blur the differences between socialism and communism, between democracy and totalitarianism. He argued that the United States would benefit from a serious debate about comparing the quality of life for the middle class in the U.S. and in Scandinavian countries with a long social-democratic tradition like Sweden, Norway, and Finland.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "What kind of movement do we need?" Socialist Worker article arguing that red-baiting is weakening the anti-war movement today, and has a history of being used to discredit legitimate activist organizations.
