In the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Walter Huston’s line about gold and human labor was deemed too dangerous to display, highlighting postwar America’s intense fear of communist ideology. This was an early manifestation of McCarthyism, a period marked by social repression and paranoia where political beliefs and simple expressions could lead to severe consequences. This climate of fear not only silenced communists but also stifled discussions on civil rights and economic inequality, delaying progress for many movements, including civil rights and labor organization.
Gold, mister, is worth what it is because of the human labor that goes into the finding and getting of it.
McCarthyism... constituted one of the most severe episodes of political repression the United States ever experienced.
The red scare paused the civil rights movement for more than a decade and drew the teeth of union radicalism.
Fear has always been a means of enforcing social order... in liberal democracies, order results from a different set of dynamics.
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