In a message dated 05/30/2000 3:05:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: << One would have to work it out, of course. I think Pound would have been deeply interested in the question. >> this is far from clear. Pound's principal interest in China was historical; there is, as I recall, very little in Pound's writing on contemporary China. I'm not speaking to the odd political remark, although in truth I don't recall many of them, either. << Such an analysis might require the serious consideration of these propositions: 1. That an understanding of China is essential to an understanding of Pound 2. That an understanding of the laborer’s plight is essential to understanding the nature of Poundian economics (assuming, additionally that one is interested in that subject). 3. That Pound’s reading of history (since Cantos is , in his words, “a poem which contains history”) has some relevance to our interpretation of contemporary events. 4. That Pound’s desire to see Fascism victorious over Communism and Capitalist “democracy” --in the West and the East --- is one central facet of his work. If one is not willing to consider the validity of these assertions, then, of course, there will be no relationship between the issues. >> such claims as these are highly problematic. my point is that there is no clear connection between Pound and current Chinese issues, and indeed, beyond your cryptic "one would have to work them out", you offer no examples. beyond this, such "working out" would, at best, be merely speculative, and would no doubt be intensely colored by your obvious bias against Pound, and by your acknowledged conflation of Pound with Confucius, a serious flaw that (from my point of view) invalidates the bulk of your arguments. << I wonder if any of the media you are exposed to, or if the mainstream media--as far as you know--broadcast a single interview by a Chinese worker (who was not under the thumb of the government). >> well, yes... the Washington Post, and most of the network television outlets regularly offer interviews with the dissident of the month -- it's quite chic, actually. as regards your criticism of Pound, I shall leave you with one last bit of advice, given to me by the late Rudd Fleming, a confidante and collaborator of Pound while he was incarcerated at St. Elizabeth's hospital: 'one has an obligation to make others as good as one can make them; only then does one have the ability to see them clearly, and the right to discuss them at all." joe brennan...