<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>it's fascinating how many people derive a sense of security from group pledges to a flag or other forms of ritual allegiance.   when one thinks about it, a flag is nothing more than a fancy handkerchief.  and "the republic for which it stands" has always been a bastardized form of oligarchy, or worse if one was a slave, indentured servant or member of an unpopular political or racial minority.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>certainly terrorists or traitors would conceal their intentions by pledging and singing away in order to blend in -- the same argument as the one level against loyalty oaths since the 1950s.   </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>when in Rome ....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>R</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=JCWisc@aol.com href="mailto:JCWisc@aol.com">JCWisc@aol.com</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=lbo-talk@lists.panix.com href="mailto:lbo-talk@lists.panix.com">lbo-talk@lists.panix.com</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, June 03, 2002 10:59 PM</DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: The Corporation and Test Acts Re: A poor leftist</DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>In a message dated 06/04/2002 12:30:00 AM Central Daylight Time, <BR><A href="mailto:furuhashi.1@osu.edu">furuhashi.1@osu.edu</A> writes:<BR><BR>> Oftentimes, though, peer pressures, if not laws, make it feel as if <BR>>  we were living in the times of the Corporation and Test Acts (Cf. <BR>>  <<A href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Ltest.htm">http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Ltest.htm</A>>) -- you either take <BR>>  the sacrament of patriotism ritualistically or else will be at least <BR>>  excluded from public office, Kiwanis clubs, etc. (or worse).<BR><BR>You are very right.  I dislike participating in patriotic rituals, but feel <BR>that I have to sometimes.  Long march through the institutions, eh?  The <BR>mustard seed planted on barren ground?<BR><BR>Jacob Conrad<BR></BODY></HTML>