During the infamous Age of McCarthyism, Communism was avoided as if it were some strange virus instead of an ideology. Being accused of being a communist, or even a someone who sympathized with the party was not something to be taken lightly. Even today, the word communism has a bit of a negative connotation to it. So why would anyone be a communist? And looking past the mass hysteria and fear, what did it really mean to be a communist in the 1950s? Looking through different first hand accounts of The Age of McCarthyism by Ellen Schrecker, it can be agreed upon universally that actual members of the communist joined because they thought their party would act for the betterment of society. They wanted to raise wages, decrease racial tension and in general make the US a better place.
