The pledge of allegiance has been a staple of school since kindergarten. I can remember rows upon rows of five-year-olds standing up and reciting the well-known verse of our grand republic. Nowadays, you would be lucky to get four, perhaps five students in a high school class to rise and face Old Glory.

Often this negligence is explained by young people not being patriotic enough, being disrespectful, or even a “liberal” education system that erodes the wide-eyed passion for our great country. It doesn’t take long for the “anti-American” label to be tossed around by some of the more colorful political and social commentators.

While I do not know the exact reasons why other seniors don’t take the daily pledge, I know very well what my reason is. The truth is, I don’t think the United States is so great a country as to warrant my daily devotion. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad I live in such a developed country, with a great variety of people, places, and activities. That being said, as I have gotten older I have become far more aware of the deep, institutional flaws that the United States as a nation has.

Things like racial discrimination, homelessness, and poverty were issues that I was almost unaware of as a child. Soon, I will be experiencing how difficult and expensive it is to get higher education, not to mention the drain that a decent healthcare plan could cost me once I enter the post-college world.

I want to stand for the pledge. However, as our country seems unwilling to address the fundamental errors within its very soul, the best I will manage is indifference for the stars and stripes.