The Political Persecution of Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound's life should be studied by anyone who values political freedom and justice.

An American literary icon, Pound (1885-1972, in photo at right) may have been the world's greatest poet. But he was also, according to his critics, an anti-Semite and a fascist sympathizer who adored the Italian leader Mussolini. Pound broadcasted anti-American radio programs in Mussolini's Italy during World War II. At the end of the war he was arrested by the Americans for treason as a result of those broadcasts [1].

Pound could have been put on trial for treason, but he wasn't. Instead, he was declared insane and was put in a mental ward at the government-operated St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. for 12 years. According to an attorney who was involved with Pound's sanity ruling, Pound was found insane largely due to his views about Jews. For example, Pound believed that U.S. president F. D. Roosevelt had cooperated or conspired with Jews in order to push America into WWII (which of course is exactly what happened. FDR's acts of antagonizing Japan and Germany to the point which they then attacked, or declared war on, America led the U.S. into that war).

It appears to us, judging by his actions and behavior, that while Pound was sort of eccentric, he was not insane. It appears instead that he was imprisoned in a mental ward because too many powerful people wanted him, and his political beliefs, to 'go away' without a potentially revealing trial.

To understand what happened to Pound, one must understand what his political pet peeve was: usury in Western monetary systems. He called those systems usurocracies. Pound thought that the West's money systems were usurious, inflationary shell-games run by Jews - which they were. Had Pound been put on trial for treason, who knows what information might have come out during that trial about global bankers or major political leaders? Pound had traveled in important social and political circles, and he probably knew more embarrassing facts about powerful people than most Westerners.

Pound's sanity ruling also automatically cast suspicion upon anything that he had previously said concerning Jews, money and fascism.

The term "insane" means that a person cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy. Given that fact, there seems to be little or no evidence that Pound was actually insane. Merely holding politically-incorrect views about Jews doesn't make one insane, nor does admiring fascism [2]. Pound had scores of visitors while at St. Elizabeth's, and he regularly corresponded with authors such as Ernest Hemingway. Pound's conversations with his visitors, and his letters to those authors, seem to show no noticeable disconnect with reality. Indeed, he wrote some great poetry while he was in confinement - for example "The Pisan Cantos." How did he manage to do that if he was insane? His behavior during his imprisonment at St. Elizabeth's could be described as basically normal, if somewhat eccentric, according to most accounts. (It is possible that, if Pound had any mental abnormalities before he was arrested, his imprisonment may have actually worsened them).

Pound's 'crime' was a) being an influential "anti-Semite," and b) opposing a war that was fought for the benefit of world Jewry and global power-brokers. Pound had to be punished - and much more importantly, discredited - to prevent others from embracing his beliefs.

Like the automaker Henry Ford and the flier Charles Lindbergh, Ezra Pound fell victim to political correctness, or, more accurately, semitical correctness.

More information about Pound can be found Here.






[1] in one radio segment, Pound asked why America took sides with the Soviet Union in WWII. He also described the Soviet regime as being Jewish, and suggested that wars were a struggle between usurers - i.e. Jews - and gentiles

[2] it's important to contrast Pound's treatment with that of the dozens of famous communist sympathizers, who not only weren't declared insane but enjoyed good reputations as well

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