In the political cartoon "You read books, eh?" (1949), how does the artist critique the "anti-subversive" efforts that took place during the Second Red Scare? In what ways does the McCarthy era continue to influence American society?

This political cartoon by Herbert Block satirizes the extent to which the American government, during the McCarthy era, sought to interpret almost anything as anti-American and subversive. The cartoon's title ridicules the idea that even something so seemingly innocent as reading books could now be used to judge and damn someone: the reference to "books" is particularly relevant, as it suggests that it is intellectual curiosity and cleverness which were viewed as particularly dangerous by McCarthyists.The artist seems to be implying that what the government really wants is uncurious people content to do as they are told and also believe what they are told.
The cartoon deliberately shows an ordinary person—in this case, a schoolteacher—doing an ordinary job and yet being swarmed by representatives of the "anti-subversive committees." It is therefore implying that:
1. Under McCarthyism, even doing one's own ordinary job could be dangerous;
2. Any type of remotely "intellectual" occupation, such as being a teacher, could put one in particular danger.
Look at the items the cartoonist brings out as details in the picture. One of them is an image of Thomas Jefferson, surely one of the most patriotic figures in American history, but even he is being scrutinized by the squad. Why? Is it because he himself was working against the government of his time—the British government? Are the squad reading too much into this? Evidently, yes: they are also shown trying to cut the USSR out of a map of the world, as if even acknowledging the existence of the USSR in geographic terms is dubious.
American society is certainly still influenced by McCarthyism and the manifest terror of communism or anything that could be considered socialist. In many countries in the world, socialized healthcare and university education are an innocuous and basic human right, but many right-wing American politicians over the decades have used the negative connotations of "socialism," dating from the McCarthy era, to keep these initiatives at bay.