Are there parallels between people's feelings about communism then and terrorism today?

Do you think there are any parallels between how Americans felt about Communism in the 1950s-60s and how Americans feel about terrorism today?

My belief is that peoples' feelings toward communism and terrorism are based on fear of the unknown. Other than that, there isn't much to compare. The two are differently defined.

They are both frightening because of the unknown elements. I feel like communism was set up as the boogeyman for us as children when it seems now to me to have been developing countries struggling to find a way to independence .... maybe taking help from stronger powers as we did in our Revolution with France. I feel like their ultimate goal was freedom, not embracing the ideology of communism. Terrorism, on the other hand, is so tied into extremes of religious beliefs and the inability to accept people in any way other than your own belief system. I feel the violence is being done in the name of their religion, not in the name of nationalism.
An excellent reason why church and state should always be separate.

When reading the book, i did see some parallels between terrorism today and communism in the era of the book. I lived through the cold war, so I remember well the "duck and cover" drills in elementary school (As if our flimsy desks would have protected us from a nuclear attack. The media approach to both communism and terrorism is to inspire as much fear as possible. One major difference between communism then and terrorism now is that the fear of communism was fear of entire countries which were perceived as the enemy, whereas today the terrorism threat comes more from individuals and groups acting in the name of their religion (or perversion of their religion to suit their actions). Terror groups can exist or spring up anywhere, including in the U.S.

Communism was a fact of my growing up years and much feared and abhorred but seems to have been so far from our shores that aside from the threat of nuclear bombs did not directly affect us. As we have all witnessed the terrorism threat is exported from countries of its religion based conflicts to all parts of the world
with out threats of invasion or suppression but just to make us afraid and to draw attention to their causes. So the only parallels I see are that they are both causes of fear.

No, I think most ordinary people living in the USA were familiar with the "duck and cover drills" and Joe McCarthy's quest to ferret out "the Communist threat" among you and may have given some thought to the potential of nuclear war but my impression is didn't impact everyday lives. Terrorist acts are random and can be homegrown. The restrictions and checks at airports, public institutions do much to heighten fear. Many know personally people who were murdered on 9/11 or who have been affected by other violent acts. The fear of crowds, flying and living with a widespread awareness of heightened security concerns has brought the concern home. I don't think the two are a good comparison.

Fear and distrust of the unknown parallel communism and terrorism. The media and the government feed on this and use it to their advantage.

Communism and terrorism are both a source of fear for the average American. I no longer fear communism as I did during the Cold War because it has pretty much proven itself to be a clumsy, unworkable way of governing. Terrorism on the other hand is very scary, as you never know when you will be under attack or whether the threat is coming from outside of the USA or from within.

Fear is a great way to control people. It is sad when governments must always have an "enemy" to supposedly rally the citizens.

They are both based on fear and what people hear about both via the news. I think the parallel is definitely there.

Yes, I think people's feelings about communism and terrorism are the same--fear. Communism and terrorism are different, but the feeling of fear about the situation and lack of control is the same. I, too, lived through the Cold War. I was too young for most of ithe time to really appreciate the danger, but I knew atomic weapons were terrifying. Terrorism is horrible because terrorists are so irrational and full of hate. Both bombs and terrorists are scary. I enjoyed the comments before mine. There were some good points made.

The similarities are fear and mistrust. In my mind terrorism is a little more scary because a lot of individuals with a personal cause seem to be out their. There does not seem to be much control exercised by anyone, just sort of a free lance practice by individual terrorists or groups, making it difficult to try and solve the issue.

I think if you'd asked someone in 1960 if Communism was a real threat to our society they would have been every bit as emphatic as people today are about the dangers of terrorism. I think the media in both cases have stoked a level of fear that is unnecessary. In 1960 you had people preparing bomb shelters in their back yards. In 2001 you had people stockpiling food and water in their basements because they feared an imminent attack. So yes, I do see parallels.

Depends on your personal views. I know plenty of people proclaiming to be supporters of socialism/communism, doubt they would say terrorism runs parallel.

They are similar in fear of the unknown, but the actions at the time were different. As someone else said, the role of the media is an important part of the way we may feel. At least at the moment the fear is of the unknown, as is the fear of Ebola.

The fear of communism and the fear of terrorism are both fear of the unknown. The fear of communism is I feel fear of a whole country; Such as our fear of N. Korea and that country having nuclear capabilities and where they are coming from, how much do they really have and do they have nuclear capabilities to truly reach our country. The fear of terrorism is mainly the fear of a group or individual carrying out attacks on individuals or other groups or their property interests or on a countries property interest.

I agree with Kim - if it were 1960 once again, indeed people would compare the two. We are all afraid of the unknown and perhaps that answers the question the best. The better informed we are, the better we are able to confront the enemy.