Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.
The rules are simple:
Web of links
Author's website: www.piecomic.com
See, I'm playing both sides so that I always come out on top.
Memes aside, it's totally not a form of brainwashing to have young children pledge allegiance to the flag before they're even old enough to understand the concept of pledges or allegiances!
I grew up in America and have lived in Canada for seven years now. I've come to recognize that Canadians (except for the staunch conservatives who aren't pleased with anything) are proud and loyal to Canada because it's a beautiful country that has (for the most part) taken pretty good care of its people. Americans are proud and loyal mostly because they were brainwashed throughout their lives by pledges, patriotic songs, and tall tales about the founding fathers. I personally found little to be proud of in my thirty years as an American.
Also, one time a pair of planes took down some skyscrapers. Alan Jackson wrote a song about it, and America invaded an unrelated country. That made people really proud too.
Of all the 9/11 songs, I feel like Alan Jackson's was alright. It was contemplative and didn't call for violence. Yeah, it had a religous turn to it, but it was talking about love being more important than politics and war.
Toby Keith, on the other hand, wrote songs about bombing Muslims and other military-porn shit. Fuck that guy.
I'm just so proud of generations that weren't around during 9/11, for making memes about it, and mocking the "NEVA FORGET!!111" Propaganda in the process
George W. Bush absolutely did 9/11 on purpose.
Let's be honest, the whole thing has always been a little weird.
I'm German and learned about this via a friend from the US. When they mentioned it, I thought their teacher was a lunatic. Then they told me that this is normal course of action. Just what in the absolute fuck.
Yes. It's far more than "a little weird". It's how you breed nationalists.
USA hasn't run into the consequences of nationalism hard enough yet when it backfires.
I am not looking forward to the find out stage of all this fucking around.
Growing up, for a time my folks were way into the evangelical thing and I attended a totally batshit religious school where we recited 3 pledges back-to-back every morning. To the U.S. flag, the Christian flag and the Bible. Then had to recite entire chapters of the Bible we had per force committed to memory that week. Failure to do so was grounds for savage corporal punishment. No other experience in life so inoculated me against authoritarianism and organized religion. It also let me know at that tender age that sadists existed.
It depends on where and when in the US. In areas that are Democratic (the more liberal party) it doesn't really happen much anymore, but in areas that are Republican (the more conservative party) it still happens at the start of every single school day.
And the custom of doing this was started by a salesman trying to sell flags and magazine subscriptions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bellamy#Pledge_of_Allegiance
They really make it too easy to draw the parallels:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute
In high school like 15 years ago we not only had the regular pledge, we had to pledge to the Texas state flag. Which you hold out your hand like you are holding something?
"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."
It's all hot garbage and unquestioning nationalism. The good bit was, only one teacher ever gave me flack for sitting out the pledge with my little emo ass. And that was my ultra conservative AP US Government teacher. And he was just a nut ball. But when I framed it as my freedom he chilled.
He was still wrong about flat taxes not being regressive!
Note: No government employee can ever legally demand that a citizen recite the pledge.
Someone tell that to my third grade teacher.
They should, yes.
Such a creepy thing, getting children to chant in devotion to a state flag in schools.
It's the sort of thing they probably do in places like NK, or the Third Reich, you don't expect it to come from a supposedly modern, non imperialist nationalistic nation, ya know? :-(
I'm from the UK, my wife is from Singapore, and our son was born in the US. I really don't think it's appropriate to force him to pledge allegiance to the US, because he has strong ties to other countries. It feels like brainwashing.
It is brain washing.
Where I'm from children sing the national anthem once a week at the school assembly and usually a few other songs too.
There are typically no flags.
Singing once a week vs listening twice a year like in Russia. Please fix. Don't be worse than Russia.
In French schools that kind of indoctrination would be immediately likened to the Nazi-empowered Vichy government in the 40s.
But you know, the grandchildren of those have brainwashed enough people that they're already seeing themselves in power right now, so maybe we'll get that again soon, and a lot worse?
French people, vote today. Please.
Such a creepy thing, getting children to chant in devotion to a state flag in schools.
Apparently, schools will have to display the ten commandments in classrooms, which means all the kiddies with functional brains get to wonder why chanting to a piece of colored fabric isn't considered worshipping a false idol.
Also, all the military recruiters will get to awkwardly explain the whole "thou shallt not kill" thing...
all the kiddies with functional brains
It is the job of the education system to root out these potential future threats to social order.
Such a creepy thing, getting children to chant in devotion to a state flag in schools.
Even in Russia kids don't chant in devotion to a state flag in schools. America, please fix your schools.
I said it once, I say it again. Why the Flag? I don't get it. Why not the Constitution? The Flag changed so many Times in US history.
Is there an actual reason or just because the flag is a more visual Token for loyalty?
The "and" is the really wierd part.
If they had worded it as "I pledge allegiance to the flag, to the republic for which it stands" you could think: "Ok, the flag is just a symbol of the country, you're actually just pledging allegiance to the country."
But, the "and" makes it clear that it's to the country and to the flag. How can you have allegiance to a flag? It isn't even about pledging to respect the flag, it's "allegiance". It's like pledging obedience to the colour blue, or pledging fealty to the sound of applause.
Here's why:
The Pledge of Allegiance was first published for Columbus Day, on September 8, 1892, in the Boston magazine The Youth’s Companion. It was written by a member of the magazine’s staff, Francis Bellamy. The publication of the Pledge, and its wide redistribution to schools in pamphlet form later that year lead to a recitation by millions of school children, starting a tradition that continues today.
Anyways, soldiers have died to save the flag. Standard bearers were critical officers during battle, and were responsible for holding a unit together, say when charging an enemy line or rallying the troops to defend a trench. Losing the standard could lose the battle and your men.
A country that truly believes in freedom and democracy shouldn't require you to take a loyalty oath every day.
This whole thing is such a mind fuck and crazy process for people outside merica. I really thought it was a joke on movies, but realising that they are really all brainwashed since children like this makes a lot more sense when you consider everything.
And we’ve had multiple lawsuits decide exactly that - you do not have to do it.
With this court, all bets are off though.
Even worse, some versions of the pledge make you swear "under god" which is fucked up. Christian Nationalists are what is destroying america.
~~Christian Nationalists~~Religious fundamentalists are what is destroying ~~america~~ everything
FDFY
Stop thinking for yourself, Corey.
Blindly accept allegiance to the piece of fabric we chose, Corey.
Just say the words and be indoctrinated into our cult to be a mindless slave with unwavering loyalty, Corey.
Do as we say, Corey.
I remember when 1 student in my class said she wasn't doing the pledge and the teacher said something along the lines of "it's a free country so you don't have to" almost no one did from that point on.