Dear Editor,
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Oscar winning movie “Oppenheimer” is whether J Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who invented the atomic bomb that killed thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was a communist. A similar question was raised with respect to Dr Jagan during the same time period and it was interesting to look at the approach and disposition in the two cases. In the case of Dr Jagan, the approach was dogmatic and peremptory. In the case of Dr Oppenheimer, it was a search for reasonable doubt.
The definition of a communist has never been precise, and it is often used loosely and, in some cases, disparagingly. Dr Jagan was labeled a communist by the British because his fight for worker rights was seen as a threat to corporate control of the labour force which existed since slavery. The British retracted that assessment in the early 60s but the damage was already done.
After watching the movie and reading the transcripts of the 1954 hearing that led to the revocation of Oppenheimer’s security clearance the takeaway is as follows: By the standard applied to Dr Jagan, Oppenheimer was a communist. And as a student of Economics whose worldview was shaped by Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes and unashamedly Karl Marx, I am also communist. To take this to a logical conclusion, if Oppenheimer was a communist then we are all communists.
The movie is true to the facts. Oppenheimer’s association with members of the Communist Party of America existed before he was assigned to lead the Manhattan Project but did not trouble the US government until he opposed the development of a hydrogen bomb. He claimed he was tormented by the fact that the bomb he had created had killed so many people and raised the prospects of a nuclear holocaust. He attributed his opposition to his conscience and the destructive potential of the hydrogen bomb as a weapon of war. US officials saw that as disloyal and supportive of Russia.
Oppenheimer denied those allegations and described himself as a “fellow traveller,” meaning that he subscribed to communist ideals but did not join the Communist Party of USA and did not take orders from anyone. He made large contributions to other causes through the party but did not pay dues. His wife Kitty Oppenheimer acknowledged that she was a former member of the Communist Party of USA but saw a difference between a Soviet communist and an American communist who was concerned about internal issues. Another witness made a distinction between an “intellectual” communist and an ordinary communist. Further distinctions were made between those who paid dues and those who did not; those who attended closed meetings and those who attended social gatherings where communists were present. Expressions like communist sympathiser, closeted communist, leaning communist and communist by association were part of the mix. Kitty Oppenheimer’s argument was reminiscent of Dr Jagan’s response to a question at the Wynn Parry commission when he educated the Commissioners on various definitions of communist. In the end the definition of a communist remained elusive. Oppenheimer’s security clearance was revoked but the commission made no finding on the main issue.
These cases reflect the insecurity and paranoia that existed at the level of the US government during the early days of the Cold War. Segregation and racial discrimination were still in effect and the civil rights movement was heating up. The threat to national security was coming from within. The fear that members of the Communist Party of America could be recruited as Russian spies was real. Empowering workers was seen as a threat to capitalism and movement towards Marxism. Federal employees were screened for communist inclinations, pro-worker attitudes and activism. Those issues intersected with the goals of CPUSA with respect to the right of workers to organise for representation, better wages and working conditions, and fair treatment for black workers. Oppenheimer supported those causes as far back as the 1930’s. Dr Jagan fought for them in Guyana from the mid 1940s to the late 90s. Most people support those issues today.
We are all communists.
Yours faithfully,
Milton Jagannath
