One thing that the “red hunters” of the 50’s forgot about is that you can’t put an idea in prison. many of the teachers I had in high school grew up during the depression or lived through the depression. As a result I think they were more interested in social justice and had more liberal points of view than a lot of other people. As a result they may have undermined the American ethic that rich people are rich because they deserve to be rich, but they could not be considered “communists” by any stretch of the imagination. You also had the beatniks who agitated for a more just society but you could not call them communists either. So to go after card carrying members of the communist party and putting them in prison was an exercise in futility. Once their ideas were put out into the world, they influenced a great many people over and beyond those who called themselves communists.
