"I care little about constitutions . . . my life is governed by the gods."

Let us analyze this quote carefully to discover its ideological
implications.  Here is the longer version:

> >     For myself I care little about constitutions, seeing that my life is
> >     governed by the Gods; but I do not like to see the human flock
> >     perish for want of a shepherd at once just and moderate.  For
> >     just as a single man pre-eminent in virtue transforms a democracy
> >     into the guise of a government of a single man who is the best; so
> >     the government of one man , if it provides all round for the welfare
> >     of the community, is popular goverment.

David Moody observes,

> > There is nothing sinister in his not caring about constitutions.  As
> > Terrell's gloss notes, "A[pollonius]'s page-long speech adds up to a
>lack
> > of interest in abstract theory."

Well, that is Terrell's gloss, but is it correct?  Terrell says the whole
speech adds up to a lack of interest in abstract theory.  Perhaps, but what
are the political implications of a speech, desigined to guide an emperor,
which slights the notion of constitution of constitutional rule?  And why is
it part of the historical record which was preserved by the Roman Imperial
State, passed down and relied upon by European monarchs, until all such
monarchs had their powers curtailed within the frameworks of CONSTITUTIONAL
governments?  And why is there nothing sinister about not caring about
constitutions?  Well, I suppose there is nothing sinister in not caring
about Constitutions if (as was the case in Rome, which for 500 years HAD
been governed as a Republic)  you were interested in preserving the power of
the rule of ONE MAN.

>The plain fact is that there is no
>opposition
>to democracy here, nor is there in Pound's citation of Apollonius.

Suppose a preeminently virtuous Man (or one who thought himself to be
preeminently virtuous)---possessed of power and backing by the US military
--- looked at our motley crew of Congressional representatives, and our
motley candidates, overthrew the government and abrogated the Constitution.
He might say,

>>      For myself I care little about constitutions, seeing that my life is
> >     governed by GOD . . .  [or words to that effect]

Should we bow down and say, "Yes, your life is governed by God, so you
deserve to rule; and we have no need of elected representatives, or the
right to vote for them, because our lives are not governed by GOD as yours
is"?

Pound made the explicit judgment that Mussolini and Hitler were preeminent
in virtue (Confucian virtue, he said), and he did not believe that their
policies should be hindered by any constitutional fetters.  Why ?  Because
virtuous rulers do not need constitutions.   They act "from the center" (the
dogma contained in the TA HIO -- a work which Pound said --- THE ONLY WORK
--he said, which could provide the solutions to all economic, political and
social problems).   Given Pound's obviously mistaken judgment about the
virtues of Mussolini and Hitler, why should we respect his judgments about
Vespasian, or his attitude toward constitutions?   Why does Pound (and why
do many of those who defend him) refuse to see these historical
documents--Latin and Chinese authoritarian texts--with any sense of their
propaganda intent?  IF Mussolini and Hitler had won the war, and if their
regimes and political philosophies had prevailed up to the present time in
Europe, what would have happened in the ideological sphere?  Would not the
present servants of the new Fascist regime be creating, preserving, and
digging up precisely the same sorts of texts that Pound did?  Would they not
be rewriting history as Pound did?  (In a less erudite manner, of course,
but wouldn't the thrust be more or less the same?)  Would they not want to
say that "they care little for constitutions" and that rule of ONE MAN (a
virtuous man of course) is the best form of government?  And would they not
say that their lives were governed by God, by virtus, by "humanity" (jen),
or by the ideological prop du jour?

(By the way, didn't the nepotite George W. Bush also say that his life was
governed by God?)

Regards,

Wei
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