Loyalty

Happy Loyalty Day

Today, my fellow Americans, is loyalty day. Originally proclaimed in the early 20th century as an alternative to International Workers Day, and signed into law by President Eisenhower. Our current president reminds us of the importance of loyalty to our nation. He insists that our soldiers exemplify the highest standard of loyalty.

Personally, I've never cared much for loyalty. I see it as a character flaw. It's a codeword for submission. If someone treats you well, do so in return. If not, do not. Loyalty is meaningless. Nazis were very loyal. A dog will be loyal to an owner who beats and starves it.

If you read the various dictionary definitions of loyalty, you start seeing words like "faithful", "allegiance", and "vow". Again, codewords for submission. Faithful means steadfast in allegiance. A vow is something you swear to uphold. It seems to me that these words correspond to a certain sort of mindset, one that I can't grok. In order to swear a vow of allegiance, and uphold that vow steadfastly, you must first believe in the object of your loyalty. But in doing so, you submit your will to a higher will. You trade away a piece of your freedom for an idea, something you believe in, something you have faith in.

I don't believe in anything. I am faithless. I either know or don't know. I either act or don't act. Faith and belief are meaningless to me.

Most people see faithlessness as a character flaw, but it is an ideal to which I ardently aspire. I am always learning more about the world, so my perspective is always changing. Also, I don't believe in nations, borders, or ethnicities. They are meaningless contrivances intended to segment reality into manageable chunks for control freaks to dominate.

But anyway, back to this loyalty day shit. The idea of feeling loyalty to your nation is antithetical to freedom and democracy. Loyalty to freedom is an oxymoron. The government is supposed to work for us, not the other way around. The government should be loyal to me, but I am merely its subject. If the government decides that I am not a first-class citizen, they will send men with guns to take my freedom away. If I could, I would renounce my citizenship, but the sad fact is, it is not possible in this world to exist anywhere unless you are a citizen of somewhere. Once you start swearing allegiances and saluting a flag, your individual freedom is constrained. Your decision-making abilities are co-opted. There is no person, no institution, not even an idea that I am so certain of that I will swear loyalty to it. And although this may sound like nihilism, I have no problem loving, caring, helping, working, and co-operating.

Let's work together, let's listen to each other. Walk with me, talk with me. But don't be loyal to me. I don't require your loyalty. I would refuse it. Be free. Shun loyalty.