Cascading Effect in History- the Red Scare
Throughout history and even today, we can see how crowd behavior can affect our own actions. It is a lot easier for us to go along with the majority, even if our beliefs conflict. One example in history of the powerful capabilities of the “crowd” and of the cascading effect is the Red Scare. The Red Scare was during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were teetering on the brink of war. There was widespread fear of nuclear war, and of traitors within the U.S. Joseph McCarthy helped facilitate this fear by accusing numerous important figures in the U.S. of being communists, including singers, celebrities, and government officials.
McCarthy was the first domino, instilling concern among the public toward communism. He challenged institutions across the country as well as innocent civilians. He pointed fingers at will, oftentimes with no basis. However, his witch-hunt was actually supported by many. Most people were clouded by fear of an attack from the inside or of being accused themselves, so following the crowd by singling out certain people to have communist views was better than being convicted. A cascading effect of chaos ensued, led by McCarthy. As more people were deemed to be communists, distrust increased. The anti-communism turned people against one another. Word would spread and what started as false accusations would turn into general agreements that someone was a traitor. Network effects indeed played a huge role in this time period, which was filled with suspicion and skepticism.
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