Perilous Similarities

As I in my American Studies class am studying perilous times, so far we have studied two. The Salem witch trials, and the Great Depression. As I thought of these two parts in history I couldn't help but thinking of the quote "History repeats itself", as do perilous times. There are many comparisons when it comes to the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare that crossed the nation shortly after World War II. Simple connections may be that in both there is a heightened sense of suspicion, even on their neighbors. And going with that in both there are rapid accusations made, even if there is no legitimate evidence except your suspicions. Another being that both these times occured right after a period where he country was unstable, one being when the country just formed, and the other after the second world war. but even more thought provoking is the similarities in the authority figures, whether it be with the court or the government. There is a strong similarity in the court room, the fact that much of the evidence wasn't cold, hard evidence. One set of evidence was based on the madness of a group of afflicted little girls, and in the 1950's they would present a claim of evidence, but then say that for national security purposes labeled it as "Top Secret", thus being indeed unpresentable for evidence.
Another two time periods that support the quote mentioned above, is that of the Great Depression and the Great Credit Crunch we are experiencing in our economy today. Keep in mind in no way is what we are experiencing now as bad as the Great Depression, I don't want to compare the actual logistics of them both, but the similarity in trying to find solutions that will help the people. This being FDR's "New Deal" that would contribute to the main goal of providing jobs for the unemployed, and to recover the economy from the Great Depression. A similar bill was passed in Congress only a few days ago in providing seven hundred billion dollars in relief. In both perilous times they are striving towards the same goal. I think that as there are bad times in the past and present, and that there will be bad times in the future, in perilous situations there will be many similarities in the people, and the authority figures.