I was talking to one of my friends and he mentioned staying home on July 4, citing how there are a lot of really ugly things going on in the US.
After thinking about this myself, I’m starting to feel the same way. Instead of being proud of the country, I’m feeling like I’m just another wallet that companies and the government are trying to suck all the money out of.
The cost of living is going up, the housing market is a nightmare, I don’t feel very confident in our government at all, the job market is a nightmare…
I think I’ll be staying home this year too… anyone else?
“And valuing the needs and opinions of others” isn’t that exactly what I am doing by asking my students to respect that others can say the pledge if they want to? As much as I feel I don’t have a right to tell a kid to say the pledge - I would be a hypocrite if I told kids they couldn’t.
Yeah, I get that, and I think this is somehow a cultural difference. I didn’t mean to tell you that’s not what you’re supposed to do, sorry if it came across like that. I just thought it was interesting that to me, the whole idea of saying the pledge seems so strange, it reminds me of saying a prayer, and that somehow doesn’t match my understanding of a democratic system. I’m from Germany, by the way. We grow up with a very different relationship to our state compared to the US. I think it changed a bit in recent years (and I’m a bit undecided whether that’s a good thing or not), but when I was a kid, basically only nationalists and neonazis waved the German flag (that changed with the soccer worldcup in Germany in 2006). My school curriculum was filled with the crimes of the Third Reich, and I think what I took away from that was to never just worship or even trust a state or government just because it’s you own, because it may actually be or turn evil. And that it’s your responsibility as a citizen to not let that happen. Of course I do feel connected to my country and my culture, but I’m just very unfamiliar with the kind of connection that (many) Americans seem to have with their country. Again, I’m not trying to say it’s wrong per se, but to feel such an emotional connection to a democratic state that is meant to be shaped by the people for the people does feel feel a bit off to me, in the sense maybe that I see a risk of it leading people in a wrong direction. I don’t know. I hope that makes it a bit more understandable. I’d actually like to hear your opinion on that. Is my point of view understandable for you, or does it seem just as strange to you?
I understand completely. I personally do not say the pledge because I know where it comes from. I believe that this country is supposed to be a beacon of democracy. A government by the people for the people. I realized in my mid 40s that there are some people who still think that the POTUS is supposed to be like a king. That’s the opposite of what I learned in school (I am from New York State) and it does have me worried. I hope that we can move back that way because I agree the people are what makes a democratic type of government stronger. Our elected officials are supposed to work for us not the other way around. I fear that a great deal of them are working for corporate greed however. I teach the Holocaust in my classroom and I also teach about fascism. I look to Germany now with hope that people can survive a government that does wrong by them. In saying all of this - I am proud of the ideals that this country (and it’s flag) stand for, but in fear of being a hypocrite - I realize that one of the standards that the flag symbolizes is freedom. Freedom to say the pledge or not based on your own personal feelings and thoughts about what that flag means to you. I hope the kids are feeling proud of those ideals and not feeling nationalistic, but I need to teach them how to think and not to think like me, but to think for themselves. Peace fellow freedom chaser. I hope history keeps us allies.