Ezra Pound Quote

"That text is known to them that have the patience to read it, possibly one one-hundredth of one percent of the denizens. They forget it, all save a few Western states. I think somebody in Dakota once read it. The Constitution."

by:	Ezra Pound (1885-1972) American poet
Date:	June 30, 1943
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Categories:	America, Apathy, Constitution, Ignorance
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This would be pretty funny if it wasn't so sad.  -- Mike, Norwalk
The root of America's whole problem. Most individual Americans have no clue what the Constitution personally means to them as individuals and not just as a nation or society of people. They believe what they have been taught to believe what it personally means to them. This of course has been done intentionally to suppress individual choice from the political world and (other than the vote and one's opinion) limit it to the social. Because of the missing individual factor the majority are free to exert influence on law makers who are already under the thumb of special interests. Speciial interests want the majority to think a certain way about freedom and Constitution and so the reason for control of power in the mass media and educational systems in our country. Once done, the majority within the realms of these systems will promote the created line of thought because they believe it to be the truth and the snowball effect occurs and the newly trained ignorant teach the next generation to be ignorant. The loss of the individual political purpose which is the rock foundation of the Constitution explains how our republic became a democracy. The political purposes of a party (just another special interest) become paramount and special interests determine what laws are written to be enforced under threat of punishment, in their interests. So our government is run by the special interests that happen to have the most influence at any given time over any particular politician. This is not constitutional nor the natural operation of our government. The natural way of responsible self government has been shelved for the rule of the whims of groups of people with their own agendas and the kind of government they can force on the individual with the enforcement power of law. If Americans ever decide they want their freedom back they have to learn the constitutional individual political purpose facts at the root of our republican American heritage. 5 stars for the vital point it brings up.  -- Anon
A few in our government may have read it, but they don't pay much attention to it. I suspect that the Obamunists would just as soon get rid of it.  -- jim k, Austin, Tx
The Constitution itself isn't even taught in Law Schools, let alone the public indoctrination system. GWB himself said the Constitution was "just a damned piece of paper", let alone the Obamunists. Heck if we could get people to understand the Bill of Rights it would be a good start.  -- J Carlton, Calgary
The constitution is a very small document and is not written in the type of legalese that one might expect. It is quite easily understood and does not allow for the vagaries that some would have you think.  -- warren, olathe
Pound was a comedian! To aver that folk like Constitutional lawyers and Supreme Court Justices, a category of folk alone which must number in the hundreds of thousands, don't read it is a foolish effort at comedy in the extreme. I feel certain that the only ones who feel that they truly understand it and correctly interpret it our those who want their own way in every thing regardless of what the Constitutional lawyers and Supreme Court says.  -- Waffler, Smith
Waffler, you haven't truly ever read the Constitution. If you have, you don't understand it because you don't think like those who wrote it. You prefer the state to freedom, while those who wrote the Constitution preferred freedom. You will never understand it until you change your opinion of freedom.  -- Ben, Orem, UT
You don't know that I have not read the Constitution Ben, how can you say such things. You also I assume believe that the Supreme Court Justices have not read it. What kind of elitism is it that you practice. Are you the only one who has read it. Above I also meant to add that those who want their way regardless of what the Constitution says.  -- Waffler, Smith
I don't know if you've read the Constitution or not, Waffler, but it is very obvious you don't, or won't, grasp it's meaning. I don't know which is worse, to not have the intellectual honesty to have at least read the source document or to be willfully ignorant of it even after having read it. For their political power the Pharisees did the same and so does our own Supreme Court who find "penumbra and emanations" in the Constitution while ignoring clear English. They turn the clear to opaque because it is to their political advantage. Obfuscation is the politician's source of unending power and he will not give it up without a fight.  -- Ken, Allyn, WA
I think it is fair to say that a very small percentage of the population has any memory of the Consitution, its basis, its meaning, its scope, its impact in its day, its limits. or its uniqueness in all the world. Waffler offers only excuses and "c'mon guys, let's just move on" instead of facing the line drawn in the stand. We are ever tempted by those that wish to exploit us for their own gain in the guise of uplifting us. Waffler has taken the bait, and 'c'mon in, the water is fine.' Some people sell themselves cheap and then chant 'nanny, nanny, boo, boo' to those wretched beasts on the other side who dare to stand on their own. One can only read the Constitution to end up saying, "Hmm, our Congress is completely out of control -- who will govern them? They obviously aren't following the Constitution, and there does not seem to be anything we can do about it except maybe elect some other guy who is as likely to be as much a liar and thief as the guys already in there."  -- E Archer, NYC
I think every child in the "U.S. public schools" should learn all about the Constitution. Whether they agree or not, they should still know it. The whole dumbing down of Americans has been going on for to long.  -- M. Brown, Florida

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