by Jacob G. Hornberger

May 22, 2026

If there is one thing that American citizens remember from their 12 long years in public (i.e., government) schools, it’s the Pledge of Allegiance. That’s because they recited or heard it recited every single morning before the start of classes. The Pledge is such an ingrained part of American society that oftentimes adults at public events proudly stand, place their right hand on their heart, and recite the Pledge.

Of course, no student in public school is required to recite the Pledge. That’s because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, which held that forcing students to salute the flag or recite the Pledge violated the First Amendment. That ruling was in 1943. One can imagine the statists exclaiming about how the Supreme Court hated America and loved the Nazis, especially given that the ruling came out in the middle of World War II.

It’s not beyond the realm of reasonable possibility that many students rise and recite the Pledge simply out of peer pressure. It’s not easy for some teenagers to take a principled stand against the rest of their class, their teacher, and most everyone else in school who is deferring to authority. It’s much easier to go along, stand, and dutifully recite the Pledge.

I think it’s worth mentioning that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist, a man named Edward Bellamy. He authored the Pledge in 1892, when American socialists were starting to make inroads in America.

The real question is: Why should anyone be forced or expected to pledge allegiance to anything? Why shouldn’t everyone simply be free to live his life the way he wants?

After all, let’s not forget that Americans had no Pledge of Allegiance for more than 100 years. Should we accuse them of hating America or being disloyal or unpatriotic? In fact, the last thing they wanted was a Pledge of Allegiance or any sort of loyalty oath because those things were an integral part of the oppressive regimes from which they had fled to come to America.

Consider the first line of the Pledge of Allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands.” There is one big problem with that line: America is no longer a republic. It’s a national-security state. Yet, I’ll bet that not one single public-school student in America understands that point. In their minds, they are pledging allegiance to a limited-government republic when in fact they are pledging allegiance to a governmental structure that wields omnipotent, totalitarian-like powers, such as the power of committing state-sponsored assassinations.

Or consider this phrase from the Pledge: “with liberty and justice for all.” Most Americans who graduated from public schools honestly believe that that’s a truthful phrase. That’s what indoctrination can do — it can cause people to believe flagrant lies. And the effect of indoctrination on the human mind can last a lifetime.

It’s obvious, at least to libertarians, that there isn’t liberty for all in America. The welfare state forces people to be “good” and “caring.” The drug war punishes people for possessing non-approved substances. The immigration police state criminalizes Americans who hire or care for illegal immigrants. Americans who travel to Cuba and spend money there are put into American prisons. The federal government wields the power to take whatever percentage of people’s income it wants. Americans can’t pursue many occupations or professions without governmental permission.

And “justice for all”? Where is the justice for those boat people on the high seas that the U.S. national-security establishment is killing without due process of law? Is state-sponsored murder what now passes for “justice” in America? That’s certainly what the Pledge of Allegiance implies.

It seems to me that the more oppressive and tyrannical a regime becomes, the more it insists on a Pledge of Allegiance and loyalty oaths. As our American ancestors understood, in a genuinely free society no such oaths are necessary or desirable.

Does this mean that the Pledge of Allegiance should be eliminated in public (i.e., government) schools? Why settle for that? Why not get rid of public (i.e., government) schooling entirely, including its beloved Pledge of Allegiance, its indoctrination, and the mindset of conformity and deference to authority that it inculcates in its students?