The effect of the Cold War on America and its history is undeniable. The rush to technologically dominanate and politically infiltrate societies with democratic ideas immediately resonate in association to the Cold War. However, numerous other issues lurk in the shadows of the war. Mary Dudziak and Elaine May discuss a couple of those issues. In Brown as a Cold War Case, Dudziak examines if the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education was miscatagorized in law books due to its implication in the international democratic persona the United States wished to represent. May, on the other hand, examines the hidden issue of overzealous security that still exists today, but directly links its inception to the Cold War
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She, as the title suggests, examines the legacy of the Cold War’s issue of security and how that affects democracy when May puts forth the argument,
Misguided ideas about security, along with an investment in private life at the expense of public life, have muted efforts to expand and strengthen democracy, resulting in a nation that is not as democratic, nor as secure, as it could be. (939)
Elaine moves on to state that the reasons for such ideas stem from people willing to surrender their rights in the name of national and personal security and that is started during the Cold War (939). May spends the rest of the paper developing her argument and supporting her claims with examples and polls that show data reflecting her conclusions. She starts with fear of communism throughout the Cold War citing anti communist propaganda and McCarthy era legal stances as driving factors (940-944). May then segways into the fear of crime in the late twentieth century supporting such fear with the war on drugs, the fear of violent crime compared to actual rates, the rise of gun ownership, the increased market for private security, and the rise of gated communities (944-956). Elaine May leads us through her perspective on how security hinders democracy to conclude her article by saying that that if Americans don’t trust one another or the government and place their own security over the good of the group then security will ultimately choke out a healthy democracy (956-957). Finally, she states that understanding how fear infiltrated American culture is the first step to combatting it
She, as the title suggests, examines the legacy of the Cold War’s issue of security and how that affects democracy when May puts forth the argument,
Misguided ideas about security, along with an investment in private life at the expense of public life, have muted efforts to expand and strengthen democracy, resulting in a nation that is not as democratic, nor as secure, as it could be. (939)
Elaine moves on to state that the reasons for such ideas stem from people willing to surrender their rights in the name of national and personal security and that is started during the Cold War (939). May spends the rest of the paper developing her argument and supporting her claims with examples and polls that show data reflecting her conclusions. She starts with fear of communism throughout the Cold War citing anti communist propaganda and McCarthy era legal stances as driving factors (940-944). May then segways into the fear of crime in the late twentieth century supporting such fear with the war on drugs, the fear of violent crime compared to actual rates, the rise of gun ownership, the increased market for private security, and the rise of gated communities (944-956). Elaine May leads us through her perspective on how security hinders democracy to conclude her article by saying that that if Americans don’t trust one another or the government and place their own security over the good of the group then security will ultimately choke out a healthy democracy (956-957). Finally, she states that understanding how fear infiltrated American culture is the first step to combatting it