Loyalty

Loyalty is one of the most misplaced things in our society. It seems to me that it has been for some time. I am not saying that loyalty is bad. What I am saying is that loyalty should not be given to organizations. Loyalty should only be given to individuals.

Being loyal to friends, family, and even to your deity can be a good, useful thing. Loyalty involves bonds which help us to defend our social group and our way of life. Loyalty to good individuals and to good values encourages us to be good people. Without loyalties we would just be a bunch of animals fighting to be on top (actually, even most animals have some amount of loyalty). Loyalty to friends and family should be a given. Loyalty to those who live around you, even though you may not know them well enough to call them friends, can help to keep a community stable and alive. In general, loyalty is the core of civilization.

Unfortunately, misplaced loyalty is the enemy of civilization. Even loyalty to an unseen deity is good, if the values associated with that deity encourage you to get along with those around you. Loyalty to organizations is a bad thing. Organizations do not have solid values and can easily be changed. To give your loyalty to an organization is to give your loyalty to whomever leads the organization, regardless of that person's ethics. Giving your loyalty to a good and wise king may be a good thing, but giving your loyalty to the government lead by that king is a poor choice, since the king may die or be driven out and your loyalty may end up in the hands of an evil usurper. Giving loyalty to a corporation which employs you may seem like a good thing, but where will your loyalty get you if someone in that corporation tells you to do something unethical?

In short, you should not give your loyalty to something which cannot return that loyalty. Corporations are required by law to do what is in the best interest of their shareholders. This means that they are only likely to be loyal to their employees if they think it is in the best interest of their shareholders. Organizations cannot be loyal to individuals. They may be able to do things which appear to show loyalty, but in reality, an organization must do what is required to preserve itself. (This is evident in the recent economical problems that have caused many businesses to default on their pension plans.)

Consider the situation if you have two friends which you are loyal to. Let's say they get in a fight and both expect you to show your loyalty by siding with them. You can choose either to be loyal to one but not the other, or you can stay out of it and be loyal to neither. Organizations have many 'friends' which may expect loyalty. Consider if the 500 people that the organization is 'friend' to get in a fight. Even if the fight is 50% on each side, the organization can be loyal to only 250 of them. If the odds are not even, the organization must be loyal to the larger part, otherwise it looses a majority of its support. This is true, even if the majority is in the wrong. This sort of thing happens frequently, when a customer of a business gets his way, even though he is wrong, because the organization cannot afford to loose the business of every customer that argues with them, even if they are wrong. If the business cannot even be loyal to itself, why would you think it could be loyal to a single employee?

Organizations are not stable. Individuals are not stable either, but they are far more stable than organizations. You can generally expect your friends' personalities to change only slowly, while even a small change in local leadership can dramatically effect how an organization operates and acts.

You may think that this only applies to organizations that are business oriented. You are wrong. Loyalty to a business is not the worst misplacement of loyalty. Loyalty to government is the most misplaced loyalty. Businesses have only limited power within their area of business. Governments have nearly unlimited power within their jurisdiction. This power is only limited by the willingness of the people to support that government. Giving unconditional loyalty to your government is a license for that government to do whatever they want, regardless of the will or needs of the people. Tyrannical governments persist because of the loyalty of their subjects and their military. Without this misplaced loyalty, no unjust government can exist.

So where should you put your loyalty? Your loyalty should be to the people of your country, if they are worthy of it (if they are not, you should get out, fast). This way, you are loyal to your government only inasmuch as it does what is in the best interest of the people. (I would like to note that "what is in the best interest of the people" does not mean what the government thinks is in their best interest. Since no person on Earth has any business deciding what is in the best interest of the rest of the people, the best way of determining this is by doing what a majority of people think is in their best interest. At least this way, if they are wrong, they are responsible for their own suffering.) Also, this way, if the government is not doing what is in the best interest of the people, you do not bear the responsibility for supporting the wrong actions.

Also, avoid giving your loyalty to individuals whom you do not know personally. Giving your loyalty to the people of your nation is one thing, but giving your loyalty to a leader whom you have never met is a poor choice. Remember that this leader may have some amount of control over the media of the country and that your knowledge of the leader's reputation is based entirely on information from sources whom you do not know the ethics of. This does not mean that every leader is probably a bad person who has been misrepresented by the media, but each leader could be a bad person who has been misrepresented by the media and you are better off keeping your loyalty than giving it to a person whom you know little of.

Give your loyalty to your god first (if you have one, and if he/she encourages good, civilized behavior), your family second, and your friends third. Fourth, you should give your loyalty to your people, not your country or its leader, unless the leader is a friend, whom you know to be worthy of your loyalty. Do not give your loyalty to some business or corporation which could change on a whim, except inasmuch as it helps you remain loyal to your god, family, friends, and people. This will help you to distinguish between things which are ethical and those which are unethical, but which may seem ambiguous at first glance.

Another note: I forgot to mention loyalty to self. If you are not loyal to yourself, you cannot be loyal to anyone else. This does not mean that you should not place others above yourself, but you should not place people or things to which you are not loyal above those to which you are loyal, including yourself. For instance, allowing a business to exploit you is not being loyal to yourself.

Also note that sometimes you must rescind your loyalty to someone, to maintain your loyalty for others. A good example is the commonly seen situation where a family member or a friend tries to protect someone who has committed a crime and is a danger to others. Generally, if an individual does something which requires you to be loyal to them, or loyal to everyone else, it is better to be loyal to the larger group. Being loyal to a criminal may endanger everyone else you think you are loyal to. Also, being loyal to a criminal will endanger you, so giving up your loyalty to everyone else, to keep your loyalty to a criminal, is also giving up your loyalty to yourself. The best measure in these situations is whether or not you can maintain loyalty to yourself. Being loyal to the group, when you know it is wrong is not being loyal to yourself. Being loyal to the individual, when that person represents a danger to you and others is also not being loyal to yourself.

Loyalty should never be given lightly, without much thought. Loyalty to the right people is what keeps civilization strong, loyalty to the wrong people destroys civilization, and loyalty to things which have arbitrary or changing ethics will destroy you.

When placing loyalties, you should first think about those whom you are already loyal to, and second you should think about how it will affect your loyalty to yourself. Sometimes being loyal will place your life in danger. Just remember that many people have given their lives to keep civilization strong. If you must give your life to be loyal to those who deserve your loyalty, at least you can know that your loyalty is well placed and you are not dying for some worthless cause. Sometimes you must do things which result in harm to you, to be loyal to yourself, your family, your friends, and your people.