A Better 'Pledge'.

[BoyntonStu]

The history of the Pledge is rather surprising. I never imagined that it was done with a straight arm salute instead of holding an arm over the heart.

Check out the second URL for some photos of Americans saluting the flag.

stU




http://rexcurry.net/pledge.html

and http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html


I pledge allegiance to individual rights
in the United States of America,
and to all private persons
under whom I serve,
one nation, of individuals,
under any Gods or none,
with liberty and justice for each.

Imagine every member of Congress standing to publicly recite a pledge to everyone in the United States. Imagine the same from every elected politician, every government employee, every government official. Imagine the elected school board and teachers in government schools standing alone and reciting the pledge to the seated students.
I am an attorney and I believe that the reference to God in the “Pledge to Individual Rights” will pass constitutional muster, and that the reference would also pass in the old pledge, if the old pledge were so improved.
The pledge of allegiance controversy may cause a lot of grandstanding during elections. Expect to see politicians try to embarrass any opponents into reciting the pledge in front of audiences. Here are suggestions for how to respond.
If anyone challenges you to join him in reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,” challenge him to join you in reciting the “Pledge to Individual Rights.” Ask him to support it publicly as an improved version of the old pledge. Recite the pledge of allegiance to individual rights in place of the old pledge. It makes much more sense to pledge allegiance to individual rights, than to pledge allegiance to a flag.
Explain that the only people who should be expected to collectively recite a pledge everyday are government officials and/or government employees. Government officials should voluntarily recite the “Pledge to Individual Rights” publicly to private citizens.
There are many reasons why private citizens don’t recite the old pledge.
The founding documents of our country show that the government exists for the benefit of the people – not vice versa. The old pledge would have offended our predecessors, all of whom risked everything to overthrow the government under which they were expected to give allegiance. From 1776 to 1861, no citizen recited a "pledge of allegiance" to the central government.
The pledge was written in 1892 by a socialist, to promote socialism in the most socialistic institution -government schools. The author Francis Bellamy belonged to an elitist socialist movement in Boston known as "Nationalism," whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. He saw government schools as a means to that end.
The original salute to the U.S. flag was an outstretched hand, like that of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. They advocated nationalizing the economy. After the National Socialist German Workers' Party tried to impose socialism upon the world, the U.S. flag salute changed to the modern hand over the heart.
In the 1930s the law under the National Socialist German Workers' Party required everyone to pledge allegiance, similar to many U.S. laws that have tried to require school children to recite the pledge. Jehovah's Witnesses were officially banned for refusing to join the raised palm salute to flags in schools and at other events under the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Witnesses believed that people who enjoy reciting pledges of allegiance are people who worship government. Many of the German Witnesses were imprisoned in concentration camps.

Why pledge at all? I do not owe my existence to any other man or woman on this planet other than my parents, and no other on this planet owe's their existence to me except any children I may have.

It is also interesting to note that the SSA program was German in Origin. They modeled the salutes from us we modeled the social programs from them. What a wonderful exchange.

http://thereisnostate.proboards39.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1111 176908&page=1

http://www.ssa.gov/history/ottob.html

Reprint here from above links for reference:

"Germany became the first nation in the world to adopt an old-age social insurance program in 1889, designed by Germany's Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. The idea was first put forward, at Bismarck's behest, in 1881 by Germany's Emperor, William the First, in a ground-breaking letter to the German Parliament. William wrote: ". . .those who are disabled from work by age and invalidity have a well-grounded claim to care from the state."

Bismarck was motivated to introduce social insurance in Germany both in order to promote the well-being of workers in order to keep the German economy operating at maximum efficiency, and to stave-off calls for more radical socialist alternatives. Despite his impeccable right-wing credentials, Bismarck would be called a socialist for introducing these programs, as would President Roosevelt 70 years later. In his own speech to the Reichstag during the 1881 debates, Bismarck would reply: "Call it socialism or whatever you like. It is the same to me."

The German system provided contributory retirement benefits and disability benefits as well. Participation was mandatory and contributions were taken from the employee, the employer and the government. Coupled with the workers' compensation program established in 1884 and the "sickness" insurance enacted the year before, this gave the Germans a comprehensive system of income security based on social insurance principles. (They would add unemployment insurance in 1927, making their system complete.)

One persistent myth about the German program is that it adopted age 65 as the standard retirement age because that was Bismarck's age. This myth is important because Germany was one of the models America looked to in designing its own Social Security plan; and the myth is that America adopted age 65 as the age for retirement benefits because this was the age adopted by Germany when they created their program. In fact, Germany initially set age 70 as the retirement age (and Bismarck himself was 74 at the time) and it was not until 27 years later (in 1916) that the age was lowered to 65. By that time, Bismarck had been dead for 18 years."

From http://www.ssa.gov/history/ottob.html