Good Night and Good Luck

It is not "history" which uses men as a means of achieving -- as if it were an individual person -- its own ends. History is nothing but the activity of men in pursuit of their ends. ~ Karl Marx

It is said that history repeats itself or may be not. May be our needs and interests remain the same and we need to make the same mistakes repeatedly. Watching this recent movie made me think that something in history is repeating itself. The movie 'Good Night and Good Luck' depicts the state of paranoia that america found itself in, in the 50's. In this particular case there was only one character which it is attributed to: Joseph McCarthy. This quote from wikipedia describes the situation:

McCarthyism took place during a period of intense suspicion in the United States primarily from 1950 to 1954, when the U.S. government was actively countering American Communist Party subversion, its leadership, and others suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers. During this period people from all walks of life became the subject of aggressive "witch-hunts," often based on inconclusive or questionable evidence. It grew out of the Second Red Scare that began in the late 1940s and is named after the U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican of Wisconsin.

Communism held a special place in the first half of the previous century and it was the focus of attention and concern for the western world. Certain paranoia and xenophobia had developed against the communists and the second half of the century was spent in fighting the 'Cold War', finally to the break up of russia.

To me it seems that one episode ended for the west and another started. Eighties represented the end of the obsession with communism (at least symbolically through break up of russia) and the Nineties mark the beginning of Islamophobia. Events such as 9/11 have made the west afraid of the "Islamic" extremism and the threat of Islam "spreading" within it.

As the movie shows that the people in america were able to see through the propaganda and realized the persecution that was being carried out. Due to which there was a state of fear and many innocent had to suffer the consequences. Islamophobia is currently prevalent in the same way. There is constant fear of what these "muslim" extremist may do. How they hate the freedom people have in america. Because of all that muslims are being persecuted and discriminated against in general. This rouses feelings of suspicion among the people of the land and hostility among the expatriates who had to suffer because of this, especially among the youth. America itself has a cherished history of young people revolting against all kinds of injustice. I believe that people must once again stop those who are trying to use them. They must once again see through the propaganda and make rational and reasonable assessment of the situation.

Good Night and Good Luck McCarthyism Joseph McCarthy