Let's start with some readings of the Declaration of Independence.
They promised us another American Revolution. They neglected to mention that they were planning on taking the position of King George and the redcoats.
1. read from the bible between between 16:00 and 20:00
2. At 20:00 show Trump's picture for 5 minutes with people praising him
3. rest of the programming are shows based upon Leave it to Beaver and my 3 sons, make sure only WASPS are the actors and producers.
That is what the US admin. really wants. If I see more than one of these "PSAs" in a 4 hour period, I will never watch that network again. FWIW, I stream as opposed to using Cable. So they will know why I cancelled their service.
>Although it’s described as voluntary, Carr said broadcasters can meet their public interest obligations by taking the pledge. This is notable because Carr has repeatedly threatened to punish broadcast stations for violating the public interest standard.
But apparently Europe are the ones with freedom of speech issues.
This feels a little excessively cynical, you still might hate it, but it's specifically for the 250th Anniversary of America.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr today urged broadcasters to join a “Pledge America Campaign” that Carr established to support President Trump’s “Salute to America 250” project.
Carr said in a press release that “I am inviting broadcasters to pledge to air programming in their local markets in support of this historic national, non-partisan celebration.” The press release said Carr is asking broadcasters to “air patriotic, pro-America programming in support of America’s 250th birthday.”
Carr gave what he called examples of content that broadcasters can run if they take the pledge. His examples include “starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or Pledge of Allegiance”; airing “PSAs, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history”; running “segments during regular news programming that highlight local sites that are significant to American and regional history, such as National Park Service sites”; airing “music by America’s greatest composers, such as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin”; and providing daily “Today in American History” announcements highlighting significant events from US history.
I don't know that "pledge" should be the right word, just maybe like encourage? And like way to speed run the death of broadcast television, but whatever.
Does the pledge of allegiance actually do anything? I can't even remember if I did it in school. I first thought "oh, my State must not have done the pledge in school", but after more reflection I think I did but just doing remember.
Fun fact: the Pledge of Allegiance was written by an avowed socialist [0] and was intended to counter the individualistic and capitalistic tendencies he saw in American culture.
When I was in sixth grade I found out (I am not sure how actually) that I didn’t have to say the pledge if I didn’t want to. I didn’t (and don’t) believe in God, and I didn’t believe in the “under God” part of the pledge, so I decided that I wouldn’t stand for the pledge anymore.
This was an extremely conservative area, and so my teachers were very upset. I told them I don’t have to say the pledge if I don't want (and I believe I had even memorized the specific court case with the Jehova's Witnesses about it). This went on for a week, until I was eventually sent to the principal's office for it.
The principal asked why I wouldn't just say it, and I told him because I don't believe in God and I don't have to. He said "well let's just see what your parents see about that". He picked up the phone and called my house, and my dad answered.
The situation was explained, and then my dad said "why is he in trouble again? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have to say it if he doesn't want to."
The principal responded back with "well sir, it's very disrespectful if he--".
My dad interrupted and said "it doesn't matter if it's respectful, if he doesn't have to say it then he doesn't have to say it. You should probably send him back to class". I went back to class and nothing that day came from it at school.
I was slightly afraid that I would get in trouble when I got home. I knew my dad had fought for me but I thought that he might have just wanted to make sure I don't get into any official trouble, so when I got home I was prepared for a lecture and maybe being sent to my room.
My dad sat me down and said "You're not in trouble, you did what you thought was right, but why does it really matter if you have to say the pledge? It'd probably be easier if you just said it" and I quickly responded back with "because I don't believe in God and I don't think I should be forced to say it."
My dad basically said that if this important to me, then he will support me. He wrote a note explaining that he doesn't have an issue with me not saying it if I don't want to, signed it and put his phone number if they have any questions, and he said to keep it in my backpack and show it to teachers if there's ever an issue.
I love America most of the time, but I think America can be great even if there isn't mandatory indoctrination. I look back and feel grateful that my parents were pretty cool with this.
To me it's not just the "under God" part, it's the fact that my kids (or I) have to pledge allegiance to a country at all, because how it intertwines with the government. It's not much different than pledging allegiance to kings back in the day (and comes from that).
I don't see what I should owe any country my "allegiance". If you interpret "the country" as being "the people in this country", then yes, I feel a responsibility towards their wellbeing, and I accept that as a form of allegiance. But in practice "the country" isn't really interpreted as "the people" but rather "the government", and is highly exclusive (us vs them). And if a government is largely contrary to my values, and isn't (in my view) helping me or the people of this country, then why should I owe it any particular allegiance? Allegiance shouldn't be automatic, but rather earned. And the recitation of the pledge in schools is part of trying to make it automatic.
There's no way to make a thing more unpopular with a massive swathe of Americans than to force us to participate.
I think they should use up all their social capital and definitely force government to do this, and it will go brilliantly for them in the midterms. Definitely do this. Maybe even send police around to rough up everyone and say it randomly, Americans love that.
I used to think stuff like this was immoral and cringe. As I’ve aged, it’s become more and more obvious you need a tribe or you’ll lose to somebody that does. I’m not personally Christian, but I grew up and generally like white Christian societies compared to the alternative. And my morals are basically inline with the religion - how could they not be? The west was a Christian project until very recently. It’d be like a fish asking “what’s water?”. So ubiquitous you don’t even realize it until it’s gone.
That being said, Trump is awful and his admin is not gonna do anything but gaslight his supporters, so while im ok with this in principle, I’m aware in reality it’ll be used for net negative things (akin to his cruel fumbling of deportations).
pledging allegence aloud to anything is bizarre and reminds of some sort of knights of the round table cosplay. It's especially weird making kids do it.
To be the contrarian, I actually don't mind a call for more patriotic programming to celebrate the USA's 250th. That makes sense. I definitely mind the slippery slope this precedent introduces. (Why not just keep doing this?) I'm also concerned that this letter is more of a "mandate" than a "call."
Regardless, Carr's letter searches hard for nostalgia. "Schoolhouse Rock" not being in syndication is eroding our nations educational strength according to him. This makes me wonder who this letter is really written for and how far-reaching they're "asking" content providers to take this.
Most Americans consume traditionally-broadcasted content through streaming platforms (Disney+ has Schoolhouse; the future of our kids is safe).and/or social media. Does Carr want Netflix to show the Pledge before every stream? The first stream of the day? Are they asking streaming providers to prioritize nationalistic programming in their recommendation algorithms outside of nationalistic holidays? Will they subsidize TV and movies for having a little more freedom in them? So many questions.
(All of this has been done before; I think there were pro-military Looney Tunes episodes back then these were shown in theaters, and the DoD does throw studios some cash to make the military look awesome and help full their recruitment pipeline.
I recommend translating the German version as it is much more detailed.
> "But far more important is the educational value that stems from the spiritual kinship between mathematics and the Third Reich. The fundamental disposition of both is the heroic. […] Both demand service: mathematics demands service to truth, integrity, and precision. […] Both are anti-materialistic. […] Both desire order and discipline; both combat chaos and arbitrariness."
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[ 17.3 ms ] story [ 136 ms ] threadThey promised us another American Revolution. They neglected to mention that they were planning on taking the position of King George and the redcoats.
*white male landowner
1. read from the bible between between 16:00 and 20:00
2. At 20:00 show Trump's picture for 5 minutes with people praising him
3. rest of the programming are shows based upon Leave it to Beaver and my 3 sons, make sure only WASPS are the actors and producers.
That is what the US admin. really wants. If I see more than one of these "PSAs" in a 4 hour period, I will never watch that network again. FWIW, I stream as opposed to using Cable. So they will know why I cancelled their service.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-face-is-now-on-...
But apparently Europe are the ones with freedom of speech issues.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr today urged broadcasters to join a “Pledge America Campaign” that Carr established to support President Trump’s “Salute to America 250” project.
Carr said in a press release that “I am inviting broadcasters to pledge to air programming in their local markets in support of this historic national, non-partisan celebration.” The press release said Carr is asking broadcasters to “air patriotic, pro-America programming in support of America’s 250th birthday.”
Carr gave what he called examples of content that broadcasters can run if they take the pledge. His examples include “starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or Pledge of Allegiance”; airing “PSAs, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history”; running “segments during regular news programming that highlight local sites that are significant to American and regional history, such as National Park Service sites”; airing “music by America’s greatest composers, such as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin”; and providing daily “Today in American History” announcements highlighting significant events from US history.
I don't know that "pledge" should be the right word, just maybe like encourage? And like way to speed run the death of broadcast television, but whatever.
And they stuck it in your mailbox hoping you could be coerced
I can think of quite another place they should have stuck it first
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bellamy
This was an extremely conservative area, and so my teachers were very upset. I told them I don’t have to say the pledge if I don't want (and I believe I had even memorized the specific court case with the Jehova's Witnesses about it). This went on for a week, until I was eventually sent to the principal's office for it.
The principal asked why I wouldn't just say it, and I told him because I don't believe in God and I don't have to. He said "well let's just see what your parents see about that". He picked up the phone and called my house, and my dad answered.
The situation was explained, and then my dad said "why is he in trouble again? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have to say it if he doesn't want to."
The principal responded back with "well sir, it's very disrespectful if he--".
My dad interrupted and said "it doesn't matter if it's respectful, if he doesn't have to say it then he doesn't have to say it. You should probably send him back to class". I went back to class and nothing that day came from it at school.
I was slightly afraid that I would get in trouble when I got home. I knew my dad had fought for me but I thought that he might have just wanted to make sure I don't get into any official trouble, so when I got home I was prepared for a lecture and maybe being sent to my room.
My dad sat me down and said "You're not in trouble, you did what you thought was right, but why does it really matter if you have to say the pledge? It'd probably be easier if you just said it" and I quickly responded back with "because I don't believe in God and I don't think I should be forced to say it."
My dad basically said that if this important to me, then he will support me. He wrote a note explaining that he doesn't have an issue with me not saying it if I don't want to, signed it and put his phone number if they have any questions, and he said to keep it in my backpack and show it to teachers if there's ever an issue.
I love America most of the time, but I think America can be great even if there isn't mandatory indoctrination. I look back and feel grateful that my parents were pretty cool with this.
I don't see what I should owe any country my "allegiance". If you interpret "the country" as being "the people in this country", then yes, I feel a responsibility towards their wellbeing, and I accept that as a form of allegiance. But in practice "the country" isn't really interpreted as "the people" but rather "the government", and is highly exclusive (us vs them). And if a government is largely contrary to my values, and isn't (in my view) helping me or the people of this country, then why should I owe it any particular allegiance? Allegiance shouldn't be automatic, but rather earned. And the recitation of the pledge in schools is part of trying to make it automatic.
Very 'come a give Grandma a big kiss and tell her how much you love her' vibes
I think they should use up all their social capital and definitely force government to do this, and it will go brilliantly for them in the midterms. Definitely do this. Maybe even send police around to rough up everyone and say it randomly, Americans love that.
That being said, Trump is awful and his admin is not gonna do anything but gaslight his supporters, so while im ok with this in principle, I’m aware in reality it’ll be used for net negative things (akin to his cruel fumbling of deportations).
Regardless, Carr's letter searches hard for nostalgia. "Schoolhouse Rock" not being in syndication is eroding our nations educational strength according to him. This makes me wonder who this letter is really written for and how far-reaching they're "asking" content providers to take this.
Most Americans consume traditionally-broadcasted content through streaming platforms (Disney+ has Schoolhouse; the future of our kids is safe).and/or social media. Does Carr want Netflix to show the Pledge before every stream? The first stream of the day? Are they asking streaming providers to prioritize nationalistic programming in their recommendation algorithms outside of nationalistic holidays? Will they subsidize TV and movies for having a little more freedom in them? So many questions.
(All of this has been done before; I think there were pro-military Looney Tunes episodes back then these were shown in theaters, and the DoD does throw studios some cash to make the military look awesome and help full their recruitment pipeline.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mathematik
I recommend translating the German version as it is much more detailed.
> "But far more important is the educational value that stems from the spiritual kinship between mathematics and the Third Reich. The fundamental disposition of both is the heroic. […] Both demand service: mathematics demands service to truth, integrity, and precision. […] Both are anti-materialistic. […] Both desire order and discipline; both combat chaos and arbitrariness."
Same for physics:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik