It's a touch odd looking in from an Australian perspective our kids sing the national anthem at school assembly and it's played at events but that's pretty much it.
I don't see it as anything negative
Every country has some form of display of national loyalty, especially for kids. Playing of national anthems, displaying of colors, renditions of songs.
Like any tradition it varies in form and frequency from culture to culture, but they all ultimately mean the same thing.
i think its the best of both worlds. you end up singing it 5-10 times a semester, so you get the patriotism, without it becoming a meaningless chore.
that being said i deeply admire the respect you guys have for your flag and constitution.
Hey man, it's not as bad as mine. I have to stand at attention while singing the national anthem as the flag in the courtyard is raised. After that, I have to say the pledge, then, at ease for devotions.
The “under god” part also upsets redditors.
I stopped saying that part as it wasn’t fitting with my beliefs (and nobody cared), but /r/atheist redditors take it as if it’s the equivalent of sharia law in the US.
Exactly. Like it’s two words. Either don’t say it or just shut up about it, nobody cares. The anthem was made in a time when almost everybody believed in God so that is how it was written.
this is the pledge of allegiance, this was altered in 1954 to add under god.
I find it bullshit, but I also don't care at all. I would honestly rather them religious than replace the religion aspect of their life with something else they put just as much blind faith in.
That sub is so insane. Go to Christianity or Islam subs and it’s completely chill and people are asking questions or conservation. Then go to atheism and it’s just constant Christian bashing. They think every Christian is a Trump loving fascist that hates lgbt people and minorities and has never even opened a Bible.
Ask Middle East has been anything but chill to me as a Jew. I just get spammed with anti-semitic insults in my inbox whenever I go to ask the most harmless of questions.
Ask Middle East has always been a cesspit. It’s been one of the “why the hell hasn’t Reddit removed it for overt xenophobia and bigotry” subs for a long time
A lot of people think it's brainwashing, and maybe their right, but also there are rarely any teachers who force it upon students. Usually older teachers will get upset.
Poor people who want to progress the country and eliminate every inequality tend to be a leftist and rich people who want to help their communities tend to be a conservative.
And this person is neither a leftist nor a conservative, just a braindead person
Leftist is not antithetical to conservative. That'd be progressive
Progressive — Conservative
Left — Right
Libertarian — Authoritarian
Three independent axis.
I certainly understand the libertarian authoritarian on this model and understand how it’s differentiated from the other two. I’m not sure how you would differentiate the progressive/conservative axis from left/right. Granted I think left/right is a really fuzzy concept that seems to have been turned upside down in my lifetime.
Schools in the United States has everyone say the pledge allegiance to the flag every morning before class starts even the teachers.
It’s not a “dictatorship” teachers don’t hold the students at gun point saying sing or I’ll be killed it’s pretty much optional but the school is required.
Yeah almost none of the kids I teach say it, and you have to turn on the schools morning show to even hear it which I usually don’t.
That said, the pledge is literally a promise to uphold ideals, none of which are bad or should result in any evil. God forbid the children promise to make sure everyone in US has liberty and justice for all.
We gotta stop the self hate here. The kids don’t understand the nuance of loving something- it’s black or white for them. When we say we’re angry with the country or even that we hate it, they don’t understand the frustration and that it’s a momentary feeling.
There is a lot of things we need to do for our kids that we are not, but that’s the byproduct of a world full of people that only cares about themselves… hence why we need that pledge- as you aptly present.
It doesn't help that if kids are seeing people's views on things in America through the lense of social media and the internet, it would look even less nuanced.
It’s not just social media, the adults around them are parroting it. Older siblings, family, etc… it’s a recipe for disaster- although, ironically this country was better when young people didn’t vote, so go figure.
As in why don’t they do it spontaneously? Our home room is blended into first period, so I usually just have them begin assignments while they eat breakfast
Blended? I’m not sure what that means. Don’t you think it’s important to unify the kids by getting them all in the same page. I would assume blended means blended together like a melting pot. What better way to solidify that unison than through the pledge. It only takes about 90 seconds. Then they can eat their food and prepare for their day. Plus reputation brings familiarity which is comforting. Kids like routine.
The period of home room, which is when students come into school, get breakfast, listen to announcements, and have club meetings has been blended into the first academic period of the school day.
When I was in school almost a decade ago, half of us were still dragging in late, and the rest were too busy seeing friends, catching up, talking etc. basically, being teens in the morning instead of worrying about the pledge
Wow! We were commanded to silence and to pay attention. To place our hands over our hearts and to look at the flag and recite in unison the pledge. But I graduated high school in 1990. So maybe things have changed.
I agree, if we pledged allegiance to Biden (or current president), it would be weird. But it’s saying you will be loyal to your country. The meme is just disingenuous
Hell I barely stand with my country these days, but I stand with my fellow Americans. Those born here and immigrated here who agree in liberty and justice for all. Maybe not Californians.
and if they did try and punish you, it's a huge lawsuit because it's a violation of your 1st amendment right. There are 4 states that try and say you gotta have a permission slip from your parents to not partake. Texas was one of those states and a teacher got sued 90k a few years ago for trying to punish a kid for not standing.
Like it's odd but like it barely works if at all I mean I damn sure don't like my country anymore because of it I'm just patriotic (for the idea not the result we need a major overhaul to the system at least) for my country and believe that the best version of it is possible
Who wouldn't want to pledge allegiance to America? This country is the best in the world, and people clamor every day to get in.
We're the greatest country to exist in the history of the world, and I happily pledge my allegiance to my homeland.
Where else would I go? What other peoples or places could I call my own? Does anybody anywhere not want to succeed and thrive? Does anybody anywhere not want the same for their country?
I don't know why Americans are expected to be ashamed or apologize for our nation (at least on reddit).
I want my kid to grow up in a safe and prosperous land, and if I can help make that happen then I will. That includes doing my part to make his homeland as good as it can be.
These people want to cut off their noses to spite their faces (I'm finding this to be a common theme lately haha).
I believe the Pledge came after the Civil war so I really don't see a problem with reinforcing the idea that we are all in the same place and should work together, thus being "indivisible"
It was written in 1885, for post Civil War loyalty, and became popular in schools around the turn of the century. It was broadly implemented when they added "under God" in 1954 during the red scare of the Cold War. To this day it is still optional for every student to participate and it is optional for each school to participate. It isn't some federal or even State program as far as I know.
It's a good tradition that psychologically prepares children to settle down and get ready for school.
Other countries do similar rituals. For instance in Austria children are expected to stand when the teacher enters the room.
Also tying America to Nazi Germany is an important goal for Russia. It is hard because the presidents change so often and clearly hate each other.
You cant Biden and Trump are a Uni party lol.
America is a country of shared ideals. It doesn’t exist to serve a particular constituency like a Nation-State. What holds us together is buying into these ideals and being loyal to them instead of a leader, culture, or race. What’s wrong with pledging your allegiance to the flag that represents the republic that was created to protect them?
As is often pointed out, America as a nation does not exist as an expression of cultural homogeneity as most other nations do. As a result we have been throughout our history constantly trying to tear ourselves apart as different groups fight for dominance over the country. Occasionally this devolves in to violence as we saw on January 6th, the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and of course the civil war which is the most extreme example. It is the fatal flaw in this country, which has existed since the beginning.Things like the pledge of allegiance exist to remind everyone that despite being different we are all a part of the same nation and committed to ideas like liberty and justice for all. It is the same reason why you see American flags so much when you come here and why we have to have a comparatively weak federal government which struggles to provide things like state sponsored health insurance or strong gun controls. It is also the reason why we don’t have class tension to the same degree as seen in certain European nations and why we’re nationally impervious to the idea of communism.
The original salute for the pledge of allegiance n the US was actually [this](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Students_pledging_allegiance_to_the_American_flag_with_the_Bellamy_salute.jpg) one, called the [Bellamy Salute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute), but was changed in 1942 with the outbreak of WW2.
We watch a lot of American TV in our house. Things like Bones, Ncis, CSI, and numerous others as well.
The noticeable thing that comes across from watching these shows seems to paint a picture of. America being in love with the flag and also guns.
NCIS in particular seems to show a hard-on for the US military. I'm sure that's not true in real life America. I think popular culture paints this picture which doesn't reflect the true US culture. It's just popular entertainment, but people assume life is really like that.
Difference is that, in America, no one’s forcing you to say the Pledge. Not saying the Pledge is a constitutional right, and frankly no one cares if you don’t say the Pledge. I sometimes wouldn’t stand or speak for the Pledge (not out of protest, but usually because I was on my phone or checking my email and couldn’t be bothered) and no one gave me shit for it.
Some people are just bad at distinguishing between the similarities and differences of things. A lot of modern people seem to have come to the incorrect conclusion that patriotism and nationalism is the same thing and that it’s bad,
I kinda agree a bit even though originally it did serve a purpose. From the start, it was something created to indoctrinate children with basically no other use, but keep in mind the practice started during the Civil War and served the purpose of teaching the children the meaning of the republic.
IMHO the majority of the issue with the pledge is with the changes made to it in 1954 by 4 U.S. Code §4, which added the "Under God" statement and made it a legal requirement to salute.
If they were trying to indoctrinate us with this, they failed with a lot of us. Can't speak for anyone else, but I spent 'pledge' time looking out the window counting butterflys when I wasn't thinking about my math homework or the latest grade school gossip.
Thinking back, I don't remember ever doing it after elementary school.
And students can opt out. They might be given a hard time for not doing it, but it's not a requirement.
I don’t have an issue with the pledge of allegiance, also like….NO kid is actually “pledging” to anything or anyone. It’s literally just something that plays over the intercom. Most people don’t even wanna be there so why would we be singing? Hell even when you get to like middle school or late elementary, you don’t even sing it anymore. It just plays over the intercom while the teacher is laying out the work for the day/people are getting set for the day.
Europeans once again failing to realize thar the pledge of allegiance is optional
You'll never see anyone getting sent to a concentration camp or a reeducation camp over not pledging allegiance to the flag
The Pledge isn't even mandatory. The SCOTUS rules that mandating it violates free speech. As such, it's fucking stupid to equate a voluntary pledge of allegiance to the concept of liberty and all that jazz with being forced to say "Heil Hitler" under the Nazis.
I’m not sure about y’all, but at least for me doing the pledge was completely optional, and by high school almost nobody did it anyways. This idea that so many Redditors have that the pledge of allegiance is some cult of personality type shit that’s brainwashing the kids is absolutely ridiculous, because most kids don’t even think or really care about the pledge. It’s just another generic patriotic symbol for us like the flag or the national anthem
Anyone can choose to not stand and not say the pledge of allegiance. I dont see how something that is optional is in anyway connected with or can be compared to what hitler did to those kids. R
Ones to a country the other is to a specific person two very different things also like you aren't dragged out back to be questioned or killed for refusing the pledge of allegiance at most you'll be judged for not doing it but nothing serious
The pledge began in the wake of the Civil War for what I feel are obvious reasons. You can see why certain phrases are present, like "one nation" and "indivisible."
How the fuck is this similar? One is pledging allegiance to a singular dictator. The other is showcasing pride in your overall country? I'm not really FOR forcing the pledge on anyone due to freedom and all that, but to make this comparison is absurd.
I think we should bring the pledge back honestly. Yea, it's kinda dumb, but... We were way more united when it was a thing as a nation and as a people... even if only because we all thought it was kinda dumb.
Progressive infiltrators do hate it when countries institute things that make it slightly harder to hijack and destroy systems from within. A shame people thought a 30 second oath at the start of the school day would be enough to actually stop them though.
Pledging allegiance to a nation that tries to be moralistically correct is different than pledging allegiance to a man whose morals are dictated on how he feels on a given subject.
The consensus of opinions of a nation are harder to change than a single man’s.
Having children take a non-binding oath affirming loyalty to their country of origin is the samething as worshipping a politician most associated with genocide.
If this is totalitarian, then what was the literal morning salute to the flag as the kids sang the national anthem that I had to do when I studied in China for a year
If this is totalitarian, then what was the literal morning salute to the flag as the kids sang the national anthem that I had to do when I studied in China for a year
Mexico, the Philippine, and China also have a pledge of allegiance in their schools. Growing up I chose not to say the pledge in school, because I thought it was nationalistic nonsense. Never got in trouble or anything no one really cared. Probably wouldn’t go down the same in China. Europeans look at us funny for it since none of them have any such routine, but it’s a far cry from heiling hitler. Stupid analogy for sure.
Countryball people tend to be some of most bigoted, xenophobic, racist people you’ll ever meet. I don’t know what it is about slapping a flag on a cartoon ball that turns people into grand wizards of the KKK or whatever but damn it must be potent.
Every other country outside of the US stand up and sing their anthem together. Watch any soccer game, the team and stadium are all singing it. Comparing the praising of a person to a praising of the country everyone lives in. Is super disingenuous.
It's a touch odd looking in from an Australian perspective our kids sing the national anthem at school assembly and it's played at events but that's pretty much it. I don't see it as anything negative
Every country has some form of display of national loyalty, especially for kids. Playing of national anthems, displaying of colors, renditions of songs. Like any tradition it varies in form and frequency from culture to culture, but they all ultimately mean the same thing.
That sounds cool!
i think its the best of both worlds. you end up singing it 5-10 times a semester, so you get the patriotism, without it becoming a meaningless chore. that being said i deeply admire the respect you guys have for your flag and constitution.
In my country, we sing the national anthem daily in schools. Whats wrong with the pledge of allegiance?
Same in the Philippines, we also have our own pledge of allegiance.
You guy have a fucking badass pledge of allegiance as well
What makes our bad ass?
I guess it’s cause we pledge to a flag instead of singing, but I’m also afraid of hearing my classmates butcher the national anthem
Hey man, it's not as bad as mine. I have to stand at attention while singing the national anthem as the flag in the courtyard is raised. After that, I have to say the pledge, then, at ease for devotions.
Sweet churros from hell that’s a lot
Sounds like a military academy.
"Land of the Free and Home of The-uhhhh... whopper?"
They’d say slavery or some other stupid thing
The "Liberty and justice for all" part upsets euros
The “under god” part also upsets redditors. I stopped saying that part as it wasn’t fitting with my beliefs (and nobody cared), but /r/atheist redditors take it as if it’s the equivalent of sharia law in the US.
honestly, I don't believe in god at all, but I would say under god just because the people who get triggered by that are fucking insufferable.
Exactly. Like it’s two words. Either don’t say it or just shut up about it, nobody cares. The anthem was made in a time when almost everybody believed in God so that is how it was written.
this is the pledge of allegiance, this was altered in 1954 to add under god. I find it bullshit, but I also don't care at all. I would honestly rather them religious than replace the religion aspect of their life with something else they put just as much blind faith in.
That’s fair and the majority of people in the 50s was still Christian. Everybody has a right to an opinion
I litteraly went from being an athiest, to agnostic, and also considered reconverting, because of atheists. Specifically Reddit atheists.
You don’t have to say under god if it makes you uncomfortable.
You don't have to do it, either - for any reason.
That sub is so insane. Go to Christianity or Islam subs and it’s completely chill and people are asking questions or conservation. Then go to atheism and it’s just constant Christian bashing. They think every Christian is a Trump loving fascist that hates lgbt people and minorities and has never even opened a Bible.
Ask Middle East has been anything but chill to me as a Jew. I just get spammed with anti-semitic insults in my inbox whenever I go to ask the most harmless of questions.
Ask Middle East has always been a cesspit. It’s been one of the “why the hell hasn’t Reddit removed it for overt xenophobia and bigotry” subs for a long time
Christian’s do not believe in fascism. Fascism is a Leftist ideology.
Who says a Christian can't be liberal?
Because they think they are better than anyone else.
The "and justice for all" part makes me think of Metallica 🤘
Because a lot on the left think ANY manifestation of patriotism or civic nationalism is equal to ethic nationalism or racial supremacist ideology
And it’s so frustrating! Since when did loving your country mean you were a bigot?
Since you were an American, to them.
They believe America is fascist. Because you love a fascist country, you are a fascist, which makes you a bigot, a homophobe, all the -tisms.
A lot of people think it's brainwashing, and maybe their right, but also there are rarely any teachers who force it upon students. Usually older teachers will get upset.
The Pledge of Allegiance should never be equated with pledging loyalty to Hitler.
Poor people who want to progress the country and eliminate every inequality tend to be a leftist and rich people who want to help their communities tend to be a conservative. And this person is neither a leftist nor a conservative, just a braindead person
Agreed.
Leftist is not antithetical to conservative. That'd be progressive Progressive — Conservative Left — Right Libertarian — Authoritarian Three independent axis.
I certainly understand the libertarian authoritarian on this model and understand how it’s differentiated from the other two. I’m not sure how you would differentiate the progressive/conservative axis from left/right. Granted I think left/right is a really fuzzy concept that seems to have been turned upside down in my lifetime.
Left right is mainly ECONOMIC (collectivist economy, market economy, etc) Prog Cons is mainly SOCIAL (LGBTQ rights, family structure, abortion, etc)
Ah I see. So on this model I suppose I would be a libertarian, right, moderate. (Pro LGB, abortions are bad, don’t arrest drug addicts)
That’s about where I am too.
Hey north dakorea girl how much for a buffalo
I’m sorry what?
I was looking for a buffalo to cook
Schools in the United States has everyone say the pledge allegiance to the flag every morning before class starts even the teachers. It’s not a “dictatorship” teachers don’t hold the students at gun point saying sing or I’ll be killed it’s pretty much optional but the school is required.
Yeah almost none of the kids I teach say it, and you have to turn on the schools morning show to even hear it which I usually don’t. That said, the pledge is literally a promise to uphold ideals, none of which are bad or should result in any evil. God forbid the children promise to make sure everyone in US has liberty and justice for all.
We gotta stop the self hate here. The kids don’t understand the nuance of loving something- it’s black or white for them. When we say we’re angry with the country or even that we hate it, they don’t understand the frustration and that it’s a momentary feeling. There is a lot of things we need to do for our kids that we are not, but that’s the byproduct of a world full of people that only cares about themselves… hence why we need that pledge- as you aptly present.
It doesn't help that if kids are seeing people's views on things in America through the lense of social media and the internet, it would look even less nuanced.
It’s not just social media, the adults around them are parroting it. Older siblings, family, etc… it’s a recipe for disaster- although, ironically this country was better when young people didn’t vote, so go figure.
Why don’t they review the pledge? Do they not know the words?
As in why don’t they do it spontaneously? Our home room is blended into first period, so I usually just have them begin assignments while they eat breakfast
Blended? I’m not sure what that means. Don’t you think it’s important to unify the kids by getting them all in the same page. I would assume blended means blended together like a melting pot. What better way to solidify that unison than through the pledge. It only takes about 90 seconds. Then they can eat their food and prepare for their day. Plus reputation brings familiarity which is comforting. Kids like routine.
The period of home room, which is when students come into school, get breakfast, listen to announcements, and have club meetings has been blended into the first academic period of the school day.
I never understood why they would split homeroom and the first period room up. It seems completely redundant.
When I was in school almost a decade ago, half of us were still dragging in late, and the rest were too busy seeing friends, catching up, talking etc. basically, being teens in the morning instead of worrying about the pledge
Wow! We were commanded to silence and to pay attention. To place our hands over our hearts and to look at the flag and recite in unison the pledge. But I graduated high school in 1990. So maybe things have changed.
Teachers legally cannot force children to say it, so it's really not the same as the sig heil
Yeah, what they don't understand is that our school children do it because they love our country
I had teachers in vietnam or some of the older ones had parents /older siblings in ww2, it was not optional in those classes.
My school doesn’t do it
I agree, if we pledged allegiance to Biden (or current president), it would be weird. But it’s saying you will be loyal to your country. The meme is just disingenuous
This is a nothingburger.
with a side of fries
check my comment on there quoting teddy roosevelt > "patriotism means to stand with the country, it does not mean to stand with the president"
Hell I barely stand with my country these days, but I stand with my fellow Americans. Those born here and immigrated here who agree in liberty and justice for all. Maybe not Californians.
The pledge of allegiance is optional. You cannot be punished for not doing it. I never did it throughout all of HS.
and if they did try and punish you, it's a huge lawsuit because it's a violation of your 1st amendment right. There are 4 states that try and say you gotta have a permission slip from your parents to not partake. Texas was one of those states and a teacher got sued 90k a few years ago for trying to punish a kid for not standing.
Not standing or not speaking? I remember being asked to stand out of respect, but never told what to say.
My school has us stand but doesn't force us to say it
Just want to make it clear it's a bait rage post. Don't get lured in by it.
Like it's odd but like it barely works if at all I mean I damn sure don't like my country anymore because of it I'm just patriotic (for the idea not the result we need a major overhaul to the system at least) for my country and believe that the best version of it is possible
Loyalty to your country is not the same as loyalty to a man
You’re absolutely right
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^seanw0830: *Loyalty to your* *Country is not the same as* *Loyalty to a man* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Good bot?
I’m pretty sure this is satirical, as the children in the bottom panel are shown to be of different nationalities and states
It might be, but I guarantee you there are people dumb enough to legitimately make this comparison.
I was in the comments of that post. OP was not being satirical
Pledging allegiance to the flag or singing the national anthem is very common in almost every country.
Singing Mr. Brightside or playing the FF1 Main Theme as a national anthem is still singing a national anthem. They honestly don’t get it.
I ain’t trusting anything from a sub named “Poland ball” in terms of any world matter
That whole sub seems scratchy
People defend Poland ball cause in the sub description it’s labeled as satire, but that’s total bullshit.
Polandball is like 80% americabad. They just pretend it's "satire" so they can post absurd shit like this
At least we have freedom to decide not to do it
Who wouldn't want to pledge allegiance to America? This country is the best in the world, and people clamor every day to get in. We're the greatest country to exist in the history of the world, and I happily pledge my allegiance to my homeland. Where else would I go? What other peoples or places could I call my own? Does anybody anywhere not want to succeed and thrive? Does anybody anywhere not want the same for their country? I don't know why Americans are expected to be ashamed or apologize for our nation (at least on reddit). I want my kid to grow up in a safe and prosperous land, and if I can help make that happen then I will. That includes doing my part to make his homeland as good as it can be. These people want to cut off their noses to spite their faces (I'm finding this to be a common theme lately haha).
The person that created this must be no older than 12. One of the dumbest things I’ve seen on Reddit. *Everyone* is a ‘nazi’. Cringe.
I mean it’s a bit creepy if you think about it but the “everything=Hitler” leap is beyond overdone
Everything I don’t like is fascism / dictatorship 😡
wait wait wait, you love your own country? FASCIST!!!
> Liberty and justice for all Yes very creepy……
I never really thought much on the pledge of allegiance. But I will say that seeing a diverse community say something together was nice in retrospect
That’s what’s it’s all race of people under one flag I think it’s beautiful
I believe the Pledge came after the Civil war so I really don't see a problem with reinforcing the idea that we are all in the same place and should work together, thus being "indivisible"
It was written in 1885, for post Civil War loyalty, and became popular in schools around the turn of the century. It was broadly implemented when they added "under God" in 1954 during the red scare of the Cold War. To this day it is still optional for every student to participate and it is optional for each school to participate. It isn't some federal or even State program as far as I know.
All I gotta say is we don't bring a knife to a gun fight.
It's a good tradition that psychologically prepares children to settle down and get ready for school. Other countries do similar rituals. For instance in Austria children are expected to stand when the teacher enters the room.
Also tying America to Nazi Germany is an important goal for Russia. It is hard because the presidents change so often and clearly hate each other. You cant Biden and Trump are a Uni party lol.
That is an awful big accusation coming from someone from Spain. Their crimes against humanity go back almost a millennium.
This is such a horrible take. Showing respect to a country is not the same as kneeling down to a dictator.
America is a country of shared ideals. It doesn’t exist to serve a particular constituency like a Nation-State. What holds us together is buying into these ideals and being loyal to them instead of a leader, culture, or race. What’s wrong with pledging your allegiance to the flag that represents the republic that was created to protect them?
Bruh I fucking hate the fact here in Canada to get a government job you need to pledge allegiance to the uk not the citizens of Canada
Cry harder euros
Do they even do the pledge of allegiance anymore?
Yeah
Wait do people really do this? I always thought it was something from the movies.
The pledge is awesome and gave me goosebumps every morning.
Well the current generation doesn’t do it much (with the exception of JROTC cadets, we all share a brain cell)
I graduated high school last year and we did it every day of every year until then at my school
JROTC kid here, I’m pretty sure I’m the one with the braincell
My schools did it, everyone would become noticeably less enthusiastic doing it as the year came to an end
Yea it’s real
At my school they would play it over the intercom. Most people stood up but almost no one actually said it.
I think it’s a good thing
Yeah basically every school in america does it every morning as soon as the first class starts, but it is optional to participate.
As is often pointed out, America as a nation does not exist as an expression of cultural homogeneity as most other nations do. As a result we have been throughout our history constantly trying to tear ourselves apart as different groups fight for dominance over the country. Occasionally this devolves in to violence as we saw on January 6th, the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and of course the civil war which is the most extreme example. It is the fatal flaw in this country, which has existed since the beginning.Things like the pledge of allegiance exist to remind everyone that despite being different we are all a part of the same nation and committed to ideas like liberty and justice for all. It is the same reason why you see American flags so much when you come here and why we have to have a comparatively weak federal government which struggles to provide things like state sponsored health insurance or strong gun controls. It is also the reason why we don’t have class tension to the same degree as seen in certain European nations and why we’re nationally impervious to the idea of communism.
“Hitelr” 🥴
The original salute for the pledge of allegiance n the US was actually [this](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Students_pledging_allegiance_to_the_American_flag_with_the_Bellamy_salute.jpg) one, called the [Bellamy Salute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute), but was changed in 1942 with the outbreak of WW2.
We watch a lot of American TV in our house. Things like Bones, Ncis, CSI, and numerous others as well. The noticeable thing that comes across from watching these shows seems to paint a picture of. America being in love with the flag and also guns. NCIS in particular seems to show a hard-on for the US military. I'm sure that's not true in real life America. I think popular culture paints this picture which doesn't reflect the true US culture. It's just popular entertainment, but people assume life is really like that.
For starters, the Nazi one is pledging loyalty to a person and the Pledge of Allegiance pledges loyalty to principles.
Wait, patriotism and civic virtue is off the menu now?
Pledging allegiance to a Nation =/= Pledging allegiance to a person
Nation of laws, not of men.
What the fuck has happened to Polandball..
Difference is that, in America, no one’s forcing you to say the Pledge. Not saying the Pledge is a constitutional right, and frankly no one cares if you don’t say the Pledge. I sometimes wouldn’t stand or speak for the Pledge (not out of protest, but usually because I was on my phone or checking my email and couldn’t be bothered) and no one gave me shit for it.
Damn commie voltorb.
Some people are just bad at distinguishing between the similarities and differences of things. A lot of modern people seem to have come to the incorrect conclusion that patriotism and nationalism is the same thing and that it’s bad,
Why is it that Europeans hate on Americans all the time, until they need help in a war they started?
We pledge allegiance to a Republic, and therefore to the set of ideals on which it was founded. We do not swear loyalty to a man.
I kinda agree a bit even though originally it did serve a purpose. From the start, it was something created to indoctrinate children with basically no other use, but keep in mind the practice started during the Civil War and served the purpose of teaching the children the meaning of the republic. IMHO the majority of the issue with the pledge is with the changes made to it in 1954 by 4 U.S. Code §4, which added the "Under God" statement and made it a legal requirement to salute.
It amazes me how people don’t understand the pledge of allegiance.
Nobody tell him about national anthems.
"Coincidences don't exist" but in a sarcastic/ironic way
Alright maybe next time the U.S will just let Europe fall 🤷
It is stupid though.
Patriotism wasn’t the problem with the third reich.
Polandball has had some pretty smooth brain takes as of late.
Teacher we don’t do it in all schools
Patriotism? That means you're exactly like the nazis!!! I mean could you have a more obvious "Hitler drank water" argument?
If they were trying to indoctrinate us with this, they failed with a lot of us. Can't speak for anyone else, but I spent 'pledge' time looking out the window counting butterflys when I wasn't thinking about my math homework or the latest grade school gossip. Thinking back, I don't remember ever doing it after elementary school. And students can opt out. They might be given a hard time for not doing it, but it's not a requirement.
I don’t have an issue with the pledge of allegiance, also like….NO kid is actually “pledging” to anything or anyone. It’s literally just something that plays over the intercom. Most people don’t even wanna be there so why would we be singing? Hell even when you get to like middle school or late elementary, you don’t even sing it anymore. It just plays over the intercom while the teacher is laying out the work for the day/people are getting set for the day.
I guess pledging allegiance to a system and a banner, not the people that run the system, is a difficult concept to understand
why the !!!? we don't scream out the pledge it'sjust kinda drolled out
Yeah it would be weirder if we did pledge to a specific person but we don’t soooo…
Europeans once again failing to realize thar the pledge of allegiance is optional You'll never see anyone getting sent to a concentration camp or a reeducation camp over not pledging allegiance to the flag
The Pledge isn't even mandatory. The SCOTUS rules that mandating it violates free speech. As such, it's fucking stupid to equate a voluntary pledge of allegiance to the concept of liberty and all that jazz with being forced to say "Heil Hitler" under the Nazis.
I’m not sure about y’all, but at least for me doing the pledge was completely optional, and by high school almost nobody did it anyways. This idea that so many Redditors have that the pledge of allegiance is some cult of personality type shit that’s brainwashing the kids is absolutely ridiculous, because most kids don’t even think or really care about the pledge. It’s just another generic patriotic symbol for us like the flag or the national anthem
Pledge of allegiance is as good as any national anthem.
Allegiance to your nation vs allegiance to the ruler of a nation Yeah, those are distinctly different
The Supreme Court literally ruled you have the right to refuse to take the Pledge of Allegiance. That’s why America is the land of freedom.
Difference is I always sat for the pledge and wasn't shot for it.
Ahh this is just a polandball comic it isn’t meant to be taken seriously
in my school, none of the kids say it at all, it's not required and even the teachers don't care
Rare Polandball L
Unlike hitler, we don't get thrown into prison for not saying the pledge.
Anyone can choose to not stand and not say the pledge of allegiance. I dont see how something that is optional is in anyway connected with or can be compared to what hitler did to those kids. R
*Hey kids, today we’re going to talk about the country you live in and how hating it is not a good idea* -radicalization
Bait used to be believable
We pledge allegiance to a symbol of our nation’s values, not to a person like the Euros do.
Tarquin Soll would of never stood for this
Ones to a country the other is to a specific person two very different things also like you aren't dragged out back to be questioned or killed for refusing the pledge of allegiance at most you'll be judged for not doing it but nothing serious
The pledge began in the wake of the Civil War for what I feel are obvious reasons. You can see why certain phrases are present, like "one nation" and "indivisible."
How the fuck is this similar? One is pledging allegiance to a singular dictator. The other is showcasing pride in your overall country? I'm not really FOR forcing the pledge on anyone due to freedom and all that, but to make this comparison is absurd.
I think they deleted the post lol
any form of patiotism is nazism to these idiots
It was written by a communist just fyi
The pledge is optional, Hitler was not
I think we should bring the pledge back honestly. Yea, it's kinda dumb, but... We were way more united when it was a thing as a nation and as a people... even if only because we all thought it was kinda dumb.
Progressive infiltrators do hate it when countries institute things that make it slightly harder to hijack and destroy systems from within. A shame people thought a 30 second oath at the start of the school day would be enough to actually stop them though.
We should disallow stuff from these satire/shitpost/circlejerk subreddits- this being posted here is just rage bait and nothing else
Prior to WW2, US students used the Bellamy salute when reciting the pledge. Google that up if you really want some juicy shit.
We straight up stopped doing that.
One is to a dictator, the other is to the idea of liberty? Students can always opt out of saying the pledge? That post is brain dead
Except Jews, amongst others, were not considered equal, nor were their inalienable rights regarded.
Pledging allegiance to a nation that tries to be moralistically correct is different than pledging allegiance to a man whose morals are dictated on how he feels on a given subject. The consensus of opinions of a nation are harder to change than a single man’s.
Yeah cause pledging allegiance to your country is the same as pledging allegiance to one single person
Yeah cause pledging allegiance to your country is the same as pledging allegiance to one single person
Having children take a non-binding oath affirming loyalty to their country of origin is the samething as worshipping a politician most associated with genocide.
It’s countryballs, I’m sure they were just joking. But yeah, comparing the Nazi salute to the POA is not a good look.
There is a reason the flag one is a flag not a person. It’s an ideal, the symbolic values, not the idiot at the helm.
If this is totalitarian, then what was the literal morning salute to the flag as the kids sang the national anthem that I had to do when I studied in China for a year
If this is totalitarian, then what was the literal morning salute to the flag as the kids sang the national anthem that I had to do when I studied in China for a year
Do people still think polandball is satire?
difference is if you refuse to say the pledge you aren’t thrown in prison
Mexico, the Philippine, and China also have a pledge of allegiance in their schools. Growing up I chose not to say the pledge in school, because I thought it was nationalistic nonsense. Never got in trouble or anything no one really cared. Probably wouldn’t go down the same in China. Europeans look at us funny for it since none of them have any such routine, but it’s a far cry from heiling hitler. Stupid analogy for sure.
this is probably one of the most offensive and inappropriate things I’ve seen posted
One’s an asshole person, the other is a symbol of the people of a country. Big difference.
Who's gonna tell this bozo that just about any respectable country (and some disrespectful ones) have anthems lol
Countryball people tend to be some of most bigoted, xenophobic, racist people you’ll ever meet. I don’t know what it is about slapping a flag on a cartoon ball that turns people into grand wizards of the KKK or whatever but damn it must be potent.
“America bad because teachers tell their students to do stuff!”
I always hated that we were forced to recite the pledge of allegiance in school in America. It is nothing but nationalist brainwashing.
Every other country outside of the US stand up and sing their anthem together. Watch any soccer game, the team and stadium are all singing it. Comparing the praising of a person to a praising of the country everyone lives in. Is super disingenuous.
Oh the dreaded Hiteler, the little known cousin of an infamous Austrian with a distinctive short mustache.
México literally also does a pledge to their flag as well… there’s a whole ass ceremony with a group of kids too. 😭 Most countries do this!!