There are two issues that should be separated. The first is that there were (and probably are) foreign spies in industry and government. That's damaging and they should be removed. The second issue is that those given the power to find and remove spies can abuse it. That's also damaging and should be prevented.

However, that fact that people abuse their power doesn't mean we should stop looking for spies, or that all spy hunting is a form of Mcarthyism.

> That's damaging and they should be removed.

Damaging to whom? How is the average person damaged?

> There is absolutely nothing noble about it.

The cause, not the execution. I never said that the execution was noble. The phrase “noble cause” is used to describe this exact kind of situation, where the ends don’t justify the means.

That they botched the execution was my entire point. Rounding up homos was easy and made themselves look good in the eyes of the public. Much easier than identifying and rounding up actual spies. I’m talking about the perverse incentives here.

All countries have spies and all fight foreign spies all the time. If you find this fight noble, so be it, but it's not really relevant. McCarthyism was really just a total abuse of power, a witch hunt only several times amplified through the power of modern media. And it destroyed the lives of thousands of people for no reason at all. So sorry, but I don't like it being mentioned in any kind of a positive context. There wasn't any.

Where do you see it being used in a positive context? I used it as an example of something that’s bad, how is that “a positive context”?

Having a big enemy to fight is good for those in power. Always has been, probably always will be.