A Young People's History of the United States

Capitalism is the foundational economic system of the US. In capitalist economies, private entities like corporations own and control what’s often referred to as the “means of production”—the various things needed to produce goods and services, like labor, infrastructure, and “capital,” or start-up money. Other key components of capitalism include fluctuating markets determined by consumer behavior and private property. Zinn emphasizes how the US government has safeguarded capitalism throughout the country’s existence, though many challenges to capitalism have arisen throughout American history.

The Cold War refers to the ideological (and occasionally military conflict) between the capitalist US and the communist Soviet Union (Russia) following those nations’ alliance during World War II. The military spheres of the Cold War are sometimes called “hot war” moments or “proxy wars” because though major capitalist and communist nations were involved in violent confrontation, the wars occurred in contested regions rather than in the large ruling nations themselves. For example, the Korean War and the Vietnam War were proxy wars of the Cold War.

During the Cold War, the American political system coalesced around anti-communism. This goal brought together Democrats and Republicans, the only two major political parties. Promoting capitalism and American patriotism as a global force of good and Soviet communism as both inherently evil and directly threatening to American security, the ruling class in the US criminalized political dissent and arrested thousands of people despite having little to no evidence of espionage or political subterfuge.