How did the Cold War contribute to the conformity of American society in the 1950s, and how was this dangerous to freedom?

While the
United States's society has always
been characterized by diverse strands of thought, the Cold
War contributed to
a push towards conformity in the US during the 1950s. A chief figure driving

this conformity was Senator Joseph McCarthy; he held Senate hearings accusing people of
being
communists who were determined to undermine the US government. Such
accusations could and did
destroy careers, whether they were true or not.
Thisof fear led people to be very careful that
nothing they said or did could
be interpreted as communist or showing communist
sympathies.

The McCarthy hearings had an especially chilling effect on the

entertainment industry, as many Hollywood figures were hauled before the Senate and
accused of
being communist sympathizers. The careers of some actual
communists in the industry were
destroyed, along with people who were not
communists at all; the accused no longer could get
jobs and no longer could
get their message out. Other artists, fearing false...