I'm pretty big on the flag and everything, but the pledge and the meaning we put behind the anthem are kind of abominations unto what the US is supposed to be.

First off, the Pledge was actually written and promoted by a legitimate nationalist socialist.

And in it's pre-1932 form, included a roman salute.

The whole idea of the United States being 'one nation, indivisible' goes against the founding principles of the united States.

But was inconvenient for socialist rhetoric being spun at the time.

I don't think a national antham can be written by a non-nationalist.

Or else you get canada's that changes every two years.

The Star Spangled Banner wasn't written as a National Anthem.

It wasn't actually made the anthem until 1931

Even though the tune was written in 1773, and the lyrics were composed 1814

Those are all true things.

But it wasn't written by an unpatriotic nihilist.

Oh, sure.

Patriotism and Nationalism aren't inherently bad.

Not in a vacuum.

They only become a problem when paired with policy.

Yeah

When the extent of your nationalism is: Do what I can to make this great nation better

policy written and instigated by fear

It's harmless, at worst.

When you extend that to enforce socialism, or some sort of purity standard, it goes a bit awry.

Bellamy took a backdoor approach to weave ritualistic nationalism into the zeitgeist.

He didn't do it through legal means. He did it through the education system.

Surprise surprise.

One good reason why decentralized education systems are a really good idea.

He actually published instructions for the pledge, etc, in educator's journals.

Sure enough, by ~~1931~~ 1942, it's put into law.

Really makes me wonder, in particular, about the shit being pushed in education *now*

and where that puts us in 40 years.

What about in 80 years? Maybe we'll be right back at ground zero.

*shrug*

I hope not, ground zero smelled terrible

This USB hub stopped working. I just showed my brother the value of going Office Space on crappy electronics.

Maybe it's because it has an arrow through it?

It used to be a USB hub like you...

o no

But then it got an arrow through the PCB