Resolved: Patriotism should be taught to children in school.

Before attacking the points presented, I'd like to compliment my opponent on a well written rebuttal... 1) Pledge of Allegiance The pledge of allegiance... While it's words may harbor a patriotic meaning, I ask how many students actually believe in what it says. Do you honestly believe a kindergardener understands the meaning of the Pledge? I doubt it. Instead, they recite it because they're forced too. I'm not sure about anywhere else, but my school district stopped saying the pledge at 5th grade. If we consider it patriotism, it's rather insignificant. 2) History with an emphasis on America Once again, I'm not sure about any other class, but our American History class is getting into the 9/11 attacks and other relatively current events. But the point stands. We've created an almost irreversible trend! By skewing our knowledge of history now, we ensure that it gets written into the history books in a skewed manner and continue to detract from the education of the generations that will come after mine. I already covered the fact that my class is covering 9/11... I'm not sure about any other class. But my opponent brings up another great point. We've almost caught ourselves in a Catch 22. We can't break free from the media's influence unless we understand more about the people being discriminated against, however we can't learn more about the people being discriminated against as long as the media is trying to cause a rebellion. This patriotism being taught in schools is widely responsible for many political uprisings. I'd go so far as to say Hitler is a prime example (and it's taught in history classes). Post WWI the U.S. completely limited anything Germany could do. Sick of the poverty, Hitler stepped to power by murdering many politicians, and claiming he had to do so for the good of the German state. He rallied most of an entire nation to commit THE most heinous crime the Earth has ever seen... all in the name of patriotism ("The good of the German state"). 3) A lot of shady things are hidden Dropped, please flow CON 4) Patriotism prevents rebellions The 'if's' in that quote only establish that each country's population is loyal to their country and that to better one country would worsen another one. Teaching patriotism ensures that people are loyal to their country, and wars are happening as we speak (well... type). Hitler tried to take over the world, and he only had the support he did because he was a gifted orator and he made people feel proud about what Germany could be. Using Russia (well, then Soviet Union) and the USA as an example: Take the Cold War... definitely not a good time for anyone. The two superpowers of the world, locked in battle. What would it have taken to make the Cold War a hot war. Tensions were already high between the Communist Soviet Union and Democratic United States. China had just become Communist and were protecting their interests in Korea. The U.S. almost had Korea completely democratic, but General Douglas MacArthur decided to push the limits. Our practices of containment were failing at every point possible, and the U.S. was afraid Russia would attempt a takeover. NATO and the Warsaw Pact were in full swing; the fate of the world hung in the balance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It wouldn't have taken much to trigger a hot war. Just remember the nuclear drills students had to do then. Patriotism can lead to an arrogance-like state, where one country thinks it's infallible. This leads to nasty conflicts that usually hurt all involved.