When Tom Kolwiecki and the "Concerned Citizens" attempt to make the Co-op grocery to compete with the overpriced general store, the local newspaper deems them communists and claims that a Co-op is un-American. Arthur Lee also angrily claimed that VISTA, the government aid program that Tom was sent from, was a product of communism. Tom is not the only victim of the power of the Red Scare. During the mining strikes, orchestrated by Dillon Freeman, the impact is so great that there is federal involvement ( Agent Temple) in order to subdue the miners and force them back to work.