I think this country, perhaps the world, has
become so dysfunctional because we forgot how complex the concept of loyalty
can be. It seems a simple and unambiguous word. “Loyalty” is basically defined
as: “the quality of giving or showing firm and constant
support or allegiance.” In these
last years I believe we have paradoxically become more loyal, but with too
little thought or consideration of the recipient of our fealty, whether this be
a person, institution, or idea.
Today’s more intense loyalty has come at the
expense of judgment. Loyalty was never a substantive virtue alongside wisdom, courage,
justice, and temperance. Loyalty requires prudence and vigilance in our
assessment of the object of this support.
Blind and unconditional loyalty is unhealthy to relationships, families, leaders, institutions or causes because it removes
judgement. Circumstance must guide decisions to be loyal. This is not easy
work, it takes understanding, deliberation, evaluation, and study; it requires nuance. We must ask “what is the effect of my loyalty to this or that?” Remember, it is
not true that good leaders foster intense loyalty, they inspire and promote
principled behaviour. It is the bad leader who stresses loyalty above all else.
Context must be used in the calculus of “where does my loyalty lie?” This isn’t hypocritical, it is moral, and it requires inner conviction. By way of example, on a small issue or minor piece of legislation a congressman or congresswoman might vote with his or her party; however, he or she should not thoughtlessly have allegiance to party for a destructive major legislative initiative or for entering a badly thought out foreign intervention. A worker might let a minor misbehaviour go but not a systemic fraud. Loyalty without context is idolatry. Loyalty without context has given us tyranny over the ages.
Bad leaders and corrupt institutions enforce
loyalty over morality. Sadly, loyalty has become binary in our country today.
James Carville, the acidic pundit, has said you can’t be loyal to us without
“stickin’” it to them. In current times when a politician, educator or your
neighbour tries to be non-binary, they are trashed as traitor by their side and
unprotected and exploited by the opposite side.
We have been on this slippery slope for a
decade or more, so this conduct has become normative. Partisanship is not the problem;
it is the symptom of loyalty gone awry. We need to get our loyalties back to a
healthy state. We all need to speak up, teach our children, talk with friends
of different persuasions, and call out loyalty tests as malign.
Re-examining our concept of loyalty will go a
long way in bringing back a more civil society.
