Word: hysterias
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Gordon W. Allport '19, professor of Psychology, stated that the major American social invention of this century was the emphasis on "growth from within" in education. But at the same time, he asserted, there have been continual onslaughts against the ideas of democracy by forces of dictatorship and hysteria...
This time they were wrong-dead wrong. They thought that by turning out all the lights they would create panic, chaos, widespread hysteria. Instead they played right into the hands of the people. Mild-mannered, respectable citizens were able to let themselves go for the first time since V-J day, to go out and do the things they always wanted to do. The little man was able to park his car in front of a meter and keep his pennies; he was able to punch that windbag who lives upstairs right in the mush without fear of retribution...
...this measure, it is true, many Democrats followed Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Scott Lueas of Illinois. That vote, however, was taken just before an election and just after the entrance of the United States into the Korean war. It was a time of hysteria, a time when few men dared risk their political careers. The President asked for a better law; his veto message was a calm explanation of what was actually needed. During this next Congress, when there are no elections iminent, Democrats will probably follow his request on such legislation. But the Republicans surely will...
Pointing out that these charges of treason--for that is what the Senator's charges amount to--are false will not stop a McCarthy. To shut him up, the nation must first put an end to the hysteria that has produced him. It must dam up the stream of unreasoning fear and worry which is now lapping at the base of so many minds. This is the fear that has found its expression in the silencing of teachers and television stars, of writers and speakers. It is the fear that censors a Lattimore and lets a McCarthy orate at will...
Sockol stated that "in time such as these, when widespread hysteria infringes upon the rights of minorities, it is essential that people realize the importance of maintaining an objective view. The only way this objectivity can be preserved . . . is if the minorities themselves are allowed to speak out. . . . If that end can be accomplished only by waiving the membership-list requirement, then we feel such action should be taken...