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clean away with it. He is still revered on the merits of his poetry but the economic & political views are seldom questioned. Pound of course was not alone in being a supporter of right wing dictatorships. PW Lewis & Roy Campbell & others sang from the same hymn sheets & also got literary veneration. It is too easy to say they simply were naive or of their time & all knew what was involved. Indeed WB Yeats veered to the right & in A Vision outlined his leanings toward a fascist line. Democracy mattered little to the older Yeats who would have embraced a dictatorship in Ireland. 

It was forgiving for Zukofsky to renew contact with Pound & the many other writers who also became part of his circle. The texts of the radio broadcast speak for themselves as well as The Cantos. These cannot be dismissed or seen as a mere error of judgement. This was no micro war but a global scale macro war in which Ezra took sides. His role was active & far from passive but his writings seem to come before his fascism. Many on here who are happy to tolerate Ezra Pound as a poet know full well the history of World War Two. 

So Casa Pound today are a well organised party based on a vocational brand of organisation & with a Traditionalist philosophy. Their membership goes across age groups & claims to offer ‘a better society’. It is a big tent party in American terms & Ezra Pound is an inspiration. How they will fare with the Italian voters is as yet not clear but 5 Star & the Northern League may well end up in coalition. Reason may prevail but the polls are worrying to democrats & we must review our stance on Ezra Pound. To turn a blind eye is no longer enough nor are the usual three day wonder street theatre loved on these islands. 

Pound must not get off the hook & his role in WW2 must not be off the agenda. Casa Pound may be a call to cast a cold eye on Ezra & simply face the facts of his politics. The millions who died deserve huge respect a lot more than Ezra Pound. 

Maybe the era of Pound has to end & veneration of him should simply stop? The current European swing to the hard right cannot be ignored & the debunking of liberal & socialist values must be countered. Otherwise we could sleepwalk into a third macro war in Europe or a Syrian or Balkan wars calamity. 

sc

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On Sunday, 4 March 2018, Jamie McKendrick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi Sean,
  I first noticed Casa Pound about a couple of years ago, and haven’t heard it mentioned since. I’m not sure how amazed Pound would have been though, as he clearly nursed inflated ambitions to be a political spokesman, and despite the verbal disavowal of anti-semitism (‘suburban prejudice’ - thereby offloading the responsibility for it onto a blameless site) which Ginsberg claims to have witnessed, there’s no sign that Pound really abjured the views he stated in his radio broadcasts as well as in the Cantos.
Jamie

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On 3 Mar 2018, at 11:55, Sean Carey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Few would have foreseen Casa Pound founded in Italy in 2003 & even Ezra himself would have been amazed. If they make any impact in the Italian election Pound will be back in the land he adopted & is buried in Venice. 

I note they have accepted his views & the name invokes him. It all of course is a sign of real political sea changes that should worry us all & clearly the post World War Two era is over. The obvious contempt for all the established parties & shared values of liberalism is now a threat. It also is a rejection of socialism of all hues for a Darwinist populism. Simple solutions to complex problems is the Casa Pound M.O. & a lot of young members.

Ezra Pound was forgiven by many poets including Louis Zukofsky of course on the merits of his poetry. Did the forgiveness allow Ezra off the hook & Casa Pound are either a blip or a surge of Italian fascist movements?

Pound is highly regarded & a key poet in the A list of the legends. Just wondering how others view the Pound ethos given Casa Pound emerging?

Cheers 

sc


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