Written by Sean   

by Sean Osborn

I've been thinking a lot about loyalty lately - mostly about loyalty to country, what that means, and what it's for, but also in the context of other kinds of loyalties that we have, how we approach them, and when it is permissible or even correct to abandon loyalties.

Loyalty is a way for people to stick together for a common goal, making it easier and/or more likely to be achieved and maintained. Loyalty to a company that is working on a new product is a good example: If one is disloyal, one could sell, give, or otherwise leak corporate secrets to the competition, preventing one's company from succeeding. If one is disloyal in this situation, one's job could be in jeopardy even if the disloyalty is never discovered - the company might have to lay off people to be able to pay its remaining employees if they're beat to the market with the new product because of the leak. Another good example is a marriage - people are loyal to each other to more easily achieve their goals of happiness, family, financial stability, or whatever reasons they might have entered into this relationship, and disloyalty can tear a marriage apart.

I never understood the reasons presented for loyalty to school, but it shows examples of the peripheral emotions and ways in which loyalty is nurtured and insidious ways its habituation can be exploited. We're told to have school spirit and to "be true to your school" (as the song goes). In High School, we denigrate the rival schools, sometimes booing them in Pep Rallies and other activities designed to stoke school spirit. These activities and this encouraged loyalty has the deliberate side-effect (or goal!) of encouraging people to go along with the majority without question. It's fun to be part of a larger group working towards a common goal - don't question why we're getting out of science class to cheer for a football team and say terrible things about other schools. Follow orders! Participate! Like it, or else! This kind of loyalty about competition and violence (football for ex.) is easily transferrable to a nation's military.

Loyalty is often rescinded by an individual when they think it has been betrayed by another, or others, in the group. For example, if one is fired from a job, one might feel justified in no longer protecting corporate secrets. This can be especially true in today's corporate climate where workers are often abused with long hours, uncompensated overtime, poor wages, no benefits, broken contracts, the inability to unionize, arbitrary management requirements, and little or no job security. People often feel that if the company is not loyal to them, they should have no reason to be loyal to a company - and I can't say that I blame them! Many people would also not blame someone for leaving (and thereby being disloyal) to a marriage that was abusive or destructive, even though marriages often come with vows that are taken very seriously by the participants.

So, what are the limits of loyalty? Is it a straight trade - you're loyal to me, I'm loyal to you? And for how long: When is your feeling of others being disloyal to you enough for you to justify being disloyal to them - them being company, school, marriage, family, social group, or even country. And how do vows affect this - do they make loyalty stronger? I think they do.

Why are we loyal to our country? In the west, especially the US, people are taught from a very young age to be loyal to their country. They're told their country is the best country and they should be happy every day that they live in this country instead of those awful other countries - very much the school loyalty model. But is it true? Is France the best country? Is the Netherlands? Is the US? In the US we're told stories of horrible, evil traitors like Benedict Arnold, and assassins like Lee Harvey Oswald, yet often is it not mentioned that George Washington was a traitor and disloyal to his country: The UK. Everywhere justification for the US revolutionaries is presented - the stamp act, the tea tax, the quartering of British soldiers, etc. We also read about defectors during the cold war, how brave they were to be disloyal to their "evil empire," and how many people are seeking asylum in our country, thereby being disloyal to a country that oppresses them, starves them, denies them rights, or imprisons them for "political reasons." The government that supplies us with our education tells us when it's ok to be disloyal to a country - only when that country is not the USA. This education further enforces our blind, unquestioned loyalty to America.

Well, I'm questioning that loyalty and the need for it. I would also like to distinguish between the people of the United States, and the government of the United States. I love the US - it is a beautiful and diverse land full of strong and diverse cultures. There are many things we do well, and I fully understand why so many people want to come here. I certainly don't want to leave! The government of the United States, however, has not been loyal to me and I feel no loyalty for it. The government of the US is a plutocracy, built and sustained solely for the benefit of the few who run it. The plutocrats pick our politicians and tell them what to do. We have endless war, so the endless-war-profiteers can make more money, and we're told to be loyal to our military. We have an economic system designed to keep most of us struggling while a few remain in power, and we're told to be loyal to our brand (Coke, Walmart, CBS, etc.), and put our retirement funds in the stock market, only to see firms like Goldman Sachs legally steal it from under our noses. We have a domestic spy network that the Soviet Union would be jealous of, and we're told to be loyal to the NSA - questioning your government is unpatriotic and disloyal. We have militarized police out to intimidated and subjugate the population that doesn't know it's own rights because that same government provides the education designed to produce unquestioning sheep. We have laws on our books that have passed through judicial review stating that any person can be detained indefinitely or killed at any time on the word of the president, with no trial, evidence, or verdict required. We're told to trust the government or they won't be able to protect us from terrorists, or evil people, or most recently, ISIS.

It is disloyal to question - just ask any journalist who made their way onto the no-fly list simply by writing something. It is disloyal to expose secrets - just ask Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning. It is disloyal to protest outside of a "free-speech-zone," and it can land you in jail in spite of the now-apparently-moot First Amendment. It is disloyal not to say the pledge of allegiance, in spite of the fact that no law requires it and it contains the establishment of religion in it, yet people are often compelled to do so by local governments. It is culturally disloyal to not say "thank you" to military personnel, when in fact they're not protecting the people of the US - they're protecting GE, Boeing, and Lockheed's bottom lines. The list of culturally disloyal things is a mile long.

Loyalty to the US government in fact means loyalty to the plutocratic sociopaths who destroy our economy, steal our money, pass laws restricting our rights, pollute our water, pollute our air, restrict our movement, spy on us, ruin our health and then set exorbitant prices for medicine. The US government is an abusive spouse. I'm breaking up with it. While I will never be disloyal to the people of the United States of America, my loyalty to the US government is over. In fact, to be loyal the people of the US, I'm going to have to be disloyal to the government.