[msm_]

I thought that "socialism" has negative connotations for me, as an eastern European. But clearly it's nothing compared to how hated this word was in the US in 1910s. Interesting quote, anyway! Wikipedia says that the novel is semi-autobiographical by the author.

[_vbnz]

The book is from Britain and written by a socialist - this section is about how they try to twist it to their benefit, making the government take over their failing business and then blame the later failure on "socialism".

But yeah, the first Red Scare in the US was during the First World War. Look at how they treated Eugene Debs - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs#Sedition_convic...

Freedom of speech... as long as you don't actually try it.