Loyalty 189043 225726009 2008-07-15T02:44:14Z Smitty 2773571 clean up using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] :''This page is about loyalty as faithfulness to a cause. For its use in business, see [[loyalty business model]] or [[Loyalty Marketing]]. For the Angel episode, see [[Loyalty (Angel episode)]].'' '''Loyalty''' is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause. ==Social and cultural== Loyalty [[evolutionary psychology|evolved]] as devotion for one's [[family]], [[gene]]-group and friends. Loyalty comes most naturally amongst small groups or [[tribe]]s where the prospect of the whole casting out the individual seems like the ultimate, unthinkable rejection. Loyalty to tribes evolved from the evolutionary tactic that there is a greater chance of survival and procreation if animals form packs/tribes<ref>[http://longlivescience.com/evolution/the-power-of-tribes-in-evolution/116/ Ingroup loyalty - Outgroup hostility | Long Live Science<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In a [[feudal]] [[society]], centered on personal bonds of mutual obligation, accounting for precise degrees of protection and fellowship can prove difficult. Loyalty in these circumstances can become a matter of extremes: alternative groups may exist, but lack of mobility will enter a personal sense of loyalty. The rise of [[state]]s (and later [[nation state]]s) meant the harnessing of the "loyalty" concept to foster allegiance to the [[Monarch|sovereign]] or established [[government]] of one’s country, also personal devotion and reverence to the sovereign and [[royal family]]. [[War]]s of [[religion]] and their interminglings with wars of states have seen loyalty used in religious senses too, involving [[faith]]ful support of a chosen or traditional set of [[belief]]s or of [[sport]]s representatives. And in modern times [[marketing]] has postulated loyalties to abstract concepts such as the [[brand]]. [[Customer]] [http://wiktionary.org/wiki/Churn churn] has become the opposite of loyalty, just as high [[treason]] once stood as the opposite of the same [[idea]]. Compare [[loyalty card]] Loyalty is also seen in business in a variety of ways. As governments have grown in size and scope, some people are more loyal to a company rather than to a country. As corporation complexity has grown, people have shifted their loyalties to individuals rather than companies. As those individuals move between companies, they often take other people with them. [[Stock options]] are one method devised to keep people loyal to a company. ==Loyalty and ethics== [[Plato]] originally said that only a man who is just can be loyal, and that loyalty is a condition of genuine philosophy. The philosopher [[Josiah Royce]] said it was the supreme moral good, and that one's devotion to an object mattered more than the merits of the object itself. [[Lao Tzu|Lao Tzu's]] take on loyalty: <blockquote>"When people lost sight of the way to live<br> Came codes of love and honesty,<br> Learning came, charity came,<br> Hypocrisy took charge;<br> When differences weakened family ties<br> Came benevolent fathers and dutiful sons;<br> And when lands were disrupted and misgoverned<br> Came ministers commended as loyal." </blockquote> (From the [[Witter Bynner]] translation.) Loyalty ( American Head Charge ) It's just a reason to deny All the limits that border On the thiniest frailties that makes a sudden change I'll pay my soul into sleep I'll make up words that I keep Letting nothing go to anyone at all Where is your loyalty now When all the cards have been left on the table? Where is your loyalty now When all the cards have been left on the table? All of them Bleed at the nerves That take so long To wear down I'll pay my soul into sleep I'll make up words that I keep Letting nothing go to anyone at all Where is your loyalty now When all the cards have been left on the table? Where is your loyalty now When all the cards have been left on the table? (This time I let go) This time I have made enough mistakes For you to bear against me in direct break Our original ideals, you let us down And betrayed our trust with all your promises I see a piece of shit alive in you Cast them near enough to be a truth This time I have made enough mistakes For you to bear against me in direct break Our original ideals, you let us down And betrayed our trust with all your promises Where is your loyalty now When all the cards have been left on the table? Where is your loyalty now When all the cards have been left on the table? There were many intents to replace loyalty with support of the ruling party, president, king or dictator. Loyalty can be used as a tool of persuasion and brainwashing. The quotation below allows to avoid the confusion: <blockquote>"...all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit; and that they have _at all times_ an undeniable and indefeasible right to _alter their form of government_ in such a manner as they may think expedient." Under that gospel, the citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor."</blockquote> -- by [[Mark Twain]], '''''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court''''' [http://mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/a-connecticut-yankee-in-king-arthurs-court/] ==Loyalty in the Bible== Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24 NIV) Attempting to serve two masters leads to “double-mindedness” (James 4:8), undermining loyalty to a cause. == External links == * [http://longlivescience.com/evolution/the-power-of-tribes-in-evolution/116/ Ingroup loyalty, outgroup hostility: The power of tribes in evolution] == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Love]] [[Category:Emotion]] [[Category:Personal life]] [[Category:Virtues]] [[Category:Ethical principles]] [[de:Loyalität]] [[es:Lealtad]] [[fr:Loyauté]] [[nl:Trouw (ethiek)]] [[sk:Vernosť]] [[zh:歸屬感]]