Impact+on+society

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ||= The Red Guards ||
 * = McCarthy
 * || ** Toll on education ** ||
 * __Domestically__, McCarthy contributed to “the disappearance of a vigorous movement on [the] left”, leaving “moderate reform groups more exposed to right-wing attacks and thus rendered less effective” (Schrecker). His accusations impacted “the nation’s cultural and intellectual life” as well. The anxieties made the film industry to go around controversial social or political issues and scholars to avoid writing books that might otherwise expose evils of the society. __Internationally__, the impact of the McCarthy era left an even bigger impact. Under McCarthy’s influence, many Americans came to believe that should the government have taken a more active role, the “loss” of China might have been prevented. “It was in part to avoid a replay of the loss-of-China scenario that Nixon's Democratic predecessors, Kennedy and Johnson, dragged the United States so deeply into the quagmire of Vietnam” (Schrecker).

The legacy of McCarthy can also be seen in some of the later events, such as “the FBI’s secret COINTELPRO of harassing political dissenters in the 1960s and 1970s, the Watergate-related felonies of the Nixon White House in the 1970s, and the Iran-Contra scandals in the 1980s” (Schrecker). Though McCarthy alone did not cause these wrong doings, his “assault on democracy … in suppressing the alleged threat of domestic communism” contributed greatly.

In short, the American people felt ** the lack of security ** in the post-McCarthy era. || ** Mao believed in an education system that could offer students with practical experience. As a result the students grew less respectful toward their teachers and their schools. As mentioned above, the Red Guards attacked scholars and teachers. During the first part of the Revolution, from 1966 to 1970, Chinese education system was almost shut down, with the teachers being persecuted by the students. Even after the turmoil had died down, the effects were still strong. The colleges demanded of students and teachers not academic ability but political loyalty. Classes were not academically challenging, for fear of students retaliation. As a professor **education at the University of Nebraska said, “Examinations were merely for review and were conducted with open books and cooperation among students”. When Mao deemed the Red Guards unnecessary, they were “exiled” in the countryside to do manual labor for most part of the day. Although some resumed with their studies, most students remained at high school level or below. China is still paying the toll on education. The dearth of educated people in various professions is impeding the nation’s growth. ||



Conclusion