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Basically, there’s an unspoken “rich people” after every important saying in America.
Pledge of Allegiance:
with liberty and justice for all [rich people].
Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [who are rich] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness [for rich people].
4th Amendment Text:
The right of the [rich] people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures
5th Amendment:
No [rich] person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . …
6th Amendment text:
In all criminal prosecutions, the [rich] accused shall . . . and to have the Assistance of [good] Counsel for his defence.
Everything makes a whole lot of sense when looking at it through that lense.
Pledge allegiance to the flag, but when did this country ever offer allegiance to us?
I’ll pledge allegiance to the Constitution – y’know, like politicians and judges do when they’re sworn in to office. The flag hasn’t even been the same damn thing for all 250 years.
Liberty and protection from justice for the billionaires
A country that blows hard about “freedom” and “democracy” shouldn’t be making its kids take a loyalty oath every day.
those who can pay for it
One nation, indivisible…
Hold up, can we squeeze some division in there to make it clear we’re not one nation?
Not one nation. One world.
We’ve altered the pledge before, pray we don’t alter it further
No, for whom.
I’m so sorry.
You know, I knew, and yet I didn’t.
It’s prescriptive vs. descriptive.
Yeah I lean descriptive, I just couldn’t help myself.
its almost like we were lied to.
Liberty and justice for all who can afford it.
And have the right skin tone, religion, political alignment and sexual preferences. (*)
*Additional conditions may be added at a later date
“Oh yeah, let’s remove that and add another ‘under god’ or some such.”
I just used that time to catch up on the homework I didn’t do. At least in high school and possibly also 8th grade.
Growing up in England but consuming so much US media, these things stand out to me as utterly bizarre when I first learned about it or saw it myself:
- The pledge of allegiance (reminds me of North Korea documentaries)
- Flags everywhere on houses (don’t you know what country you’re in??)
- Singing the national anthem before domestic sports matches
- Picture of George W. Bush on the wall of the immigration office on the border with Canada, when I first visited with family (everyone in the world knows what your president looks like. This just reminded me of the dictator of Turkmenistan plastered all over their airport on a stopover, and videos of Iraq)
I think all federal buildings in the US have a photo of the President (and also, likely, the cabinet member who is in charge of whatever bureau you’re in).
It might vary by state, but state government building will also usually have a photo of the Governor of said state (chief executive).
I’m not sure when that started… My guess would be either WW2, or Reagan
Similarly, US military buildings often have the entire chain of command’s pictures posted, from the Commander in Chief down to the CO of that building
That would at least be more useful probably lol
Canadian here, and I agree with the above.
But don’t most government offices in the UK have a portrait of the sovereign up somewhere?
There are a lot of things with the monarchy around but I don’t recall seeing a picture in many government offices in ransom offices, mostly central government ones or very traditional parts. Feels a bit different though. The USA is supposed to be a rejection of a monarchy.
Of all the many things that have always struck me as deeply disturbing about the USA, this one is pretty near the top of the list. It’s fucking cult behaviour.
Yeah, there’s a lot of weird widely accepted propaganda.
Pledging allegiance to the flag means they expect you to blindly obey whoever is holding the flag. The rest is theater.
For all (white people).
As a social experiment we should have a holidays were everyone dresses up as the same race and gender.
