The Salem Witch Hunt During The Cold War

During the height of the Cold War, Americans were extremely fearful of Communism. Like how witches were construed in Salem, Communists were viewed as an omnipresent threat to the country. In both instances, neither was widespread, but fear caused people to act as if they were true dangers. It led people in both instances to accuse others, without evidence, of witchcraft or Communism. In the McCarthy Trials, the outcome had already been decided: the person was a Communist. The only difference was whether that person admitted to being a Communist; if they did not admit, they were punished. This is identical to how the Salem Witch Trials occurred. Evidence was completely irrelevant, and one had to confess to witchcraft if one wanted to live. Both situations alleviated fear by confronting the supposed problems and spurred further fear by creating a hysterical situation where no one could be trusted.
Source: history knowledge
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The Chinese Communist Party fears that Xinjiang’s population – which is mostly made up of Uighurs, who are more culturally Muslim than Chinese – harbors separatist feelings towards the government. This has led to the CCP developing new methods of keeping tabs on the Uighur population, which totals over 11 million. The government has access to all cellphone data through spy apps that must be installed on people’s phones, and it goes so far as to collect a DNA sample of every Uighur person. These actions can be attributed to Uighur rebellions in the past, but they total few in number. Some Chinese officials have said the CCP’s actions go too far and fear that the current suppression will lead to lasting resentment and an even greater risk of