This fallacy is disproven by a number of studies that show the economic growth of the Soviet Union was seriously hampered by the Second World War and despite a push for industrialization after the war it did not fully recover as late as 1961. In order to soften up the public and convince them a never-ending war against communism was required to protect America, a large propaganda effort was established. It focused primarily on children through comic books, schools, and textbooks. For adults, there were a number of films released that stoked paranoia of communist subversion. The Washington Post, at the time a conduit for CIA propaganda, cited these fictional reports and warned America would be reduced to a second-rate world power if it didn't start competing with the Soviets in ICBM technology. Now we have come full circle. Once again, Russia is the enemy, and so is China. The Second Cold War is a remake of the first and for the same reason—to provide an excuse to continue spending billions of dollars on armaments and enriching the military-industrial and now surveillance complex.