Quote Originally Posted by rockzmom View Post
Hanna... you've been down this path before We are not the only place that says a pledge or sings anthems. Believe me, it is more of a tradition than being patriotic. Young boys (and girls) today, they don't even take off their hats, EVEN when reminded to before hand by the Principal. Some of the kids don't even bother to take out their earbuds or put away their cell phones... let alone stand.
Haha, I am a broken record. Oh well! And I agree with you , discipline in school is probably an issue in most countries...

But America has a great deal more patriotism than countries in Europe, I can absolutely promise you that. So from my perspective the USA is quite extreme.

There is next to no patriotic stuff AT ALL anywhere in Europe. Once or twice a year you sing the national anthem in school - there is no loyalty pledge and no glorification of heroic history like there is in the USA. There are no old time kings or others that are glorified really - all of the old time heroes were involved in activities that are unacceptable now, or politically incorrect. There is the terrible legacy of devastating wars, guilt from colonialism, persecution of minorities and terrorism by separatist states. All that has put people off nationalism and patriotism. The only exceptions are the "new" countries in Eastern Europe, that have some kind of point to prove.

So looked at it from our perspective, the nationalism of the USA is pretty extreme, with 4th of July, daily pledges in school, famous anectotes about leaders. There is endless talk about supposedly "American values" that are all about "freedom" and things like that. Sounds good, but for whom, how and at what price?

I think it's pretty much comparable in intensity with the USSR which had parades, loyalty pledges, idolizing Lenin and talk about idealistic utopian ideas which they did not quite live up to... Just a different flavour of propaganda.

I have seen young pioneer reciting some kind of pledge, on TV - guessing that must have been compulsory, so an equivalent to what Americans do. Not sure whether Russia today does anything like that.. I would guess, probably not.

Joke video about American Pledge of Allegiance in school! Funny!!!



I don't dislike patriotism at all, it can be a really nice thing.
As long as every country keeps their patriotic and nationalistic stuff within their own borders and don't use it to justify starting wars or invasions!

If the USSR had been the winner of the Cold War and was violently pushing their agenda while being hypocritical about their ideology then I would have just as much an issue with that.