Oswald's Motive

[Richard Smith]

But he was a political person, he read political material, biographies on major political figures. He had little money but subscribed to Marxist publications, followed Marxist politics, wrote about Marxism. He condemned the Soviet system as being a betrayal of real Marxism, that it had replaced a corrupt Czarist system with an even worse bureaucratic and cruel one. In other words, he compared it to true Marxism. Why would a person who wasn't a Marxist use Marxism as a guide? Robert Oswald said he and Lee had a "tacit" agreement to never discuss politics, that it was something they just didn't talk about.

WC testimony:
Representative BOGGS. He never discussed political matters with you?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; he did not. I would say we had a tacit agreement it was never brought up.
Representative BOGGS. By tacit, do you mean that----
Mr. OSWALD. An unspoken agreement that we never would discuss it.
Representative BOGGS. I understand. Had you arrived at this agreement because on previous occasions you had disagreed about political matters?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; that was not the reason. We just never discussed politics.

The idea that he never showed any favoritism towards Marxism - as he understood it - is, I think, not true.

It's debatable whether Oswald's attraction to Marxism was fueled by a belief in its ideology or whether Oswald turned to Marxism because it stood in contrast to American norms.  Robert Oswald said exactly that:  "If everybody had been Marxist, he would have been an American, vice versa."

[Martin Weidmann]

Did he try to shoot Walker or not?

Do you think this below is not evidence of a person with extreme views?

Did he try to shoot Walker or not?

Did he? Walker didn't think so...

Do you think this below is not evidence of a person with extreme views?

Only to a biased mind.

More reasonable people consider it to be evidence of somebody, for whatever purpose, holding a rifle and some papers.

[Richard Smith]

His lack of a clear political motive doesn’t exonerate him of course.

But I’m not convinced by the “he did it because he was a loser” theory.

Oswald's motive can only be known with certainty to himself.  Assassinating the president as he did is not the action of a rational person.  As a result, there is no single rational explanation for his act.  No doubt many factors came into play including politics and Oswald's own psychological impulses.  The evidence confirms he was the assassin, however, even if his motive can't be proven with certainty. 

[Steve M. Galbraith]

It's debatable whether Oswald's attraction to Marxism was fueled by a belief in its ideology or whether Oswald turned to Marxism because it stood in contrast to American norms.  Robert Oswald said exactly that:  "If everybody had been Marxist, he would have been an American, vice versa."

Right, Marxism was an explanation for his plight, for the ugliness he saw around him. "Why is the world so ugly to me?" Answer: Because it's a corrupt world, it's a world that Marxism explained to him. That's what happened, it seems to me, to many Americans who became communists during the Great Depression. At that time liberal democracy was a failure, fascism was on the rise, and communism seemed the answer to those challenges. It was why, for example, Whittaker Chambers became one.

But even if it was just a rejection of America it was still something he believed in. He wasn't, I don't think, a nihilist.

[Richard Smith]

Right, Marxism was an explanation for his plight, for the ugliness he saw around him. "Why is the world so ugly to me?" Answer: Because it's a corrupt world, it's a world that Marxism explained to him. That's what happened, it seems to me, to many Americans who became communists during the Great Depression. At that time liberal democracy was a failure, fascism was on the rise, and communism seemed the answer to those challenges. It was why, for example, Whittaker Chambers became one.

But even if it was just a rejection of America it was still something he believed in. He wasn't, I don't think, a nihilist.

I think Oswald desired the attention (even negative attention) that he received by being associated with an extremist political cause.  It suited his psychological need to be noticed.  In the case of the US at the time, the political affiliation that was most removed from the mainstream was Marxism.  Oswald wouldn't have received the same attention if he had joined a more mainstream political party.  Did he still support Marxist causes?  Sure.  But I do think much of its attraction was that he enjoyed the fantasy that he was a big shot and received attention for belonging to such an outlier group.   His political beliefs can't be separated from his own psychological impulses including anger and desire for attention.

[Jon Banks]

Sorry, this Oswald wasn't a "Marxist" argument is not convincing.

If he was a marxist, why didn't he associate with other marxists? Why did he instead frequently associate with people who opposed communism?

Can you name a single marxist or communist that Oswald was known to associate with?

Within marxism, there are anti-Stalinists by the way. They're called "Trostskyites". Was Oswald a "Trotskyist" after leaving the USSR? it's possible, but we'll never know.

"Trotskyists are critical of Stalinism as they oppose Joseph Stalin's theory of socialism in one country in favour of Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution. Trotskyists criticize the bureaucracy and anti-democratic current developed in the Soviet Union under Stalin."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotskyism#:~:text=Trotskyists%20are%20critical%20of%20Stalinism,the%20Soviet%20Union%20under%20Stalin.

[Jon Banks]

Did he try to shoot Walker or not?

I don't know. Unlike the JFK example, it's clear that LHO didn't like Gen. Walker.

But the evidence of Oswald's involvement with the Walker shooting attempt remains inconclusive.

Do you think this below is not evidence of a person with extreme views?

I believe the Backyard photos are real but they don't tell us much about Oswald's political views or the message he was trying to send in by the photos (which may never have been seen in public if not for the JFK assassination).