I need people to understand that loyalty is hot because it's a vice, not a virtue.
Being loyal to someone means you'll follow them even when they're wrong. If you only follow them as long as they're right, you're not loyal, you're just being reasonable, and basing your decisions on your own sense of morality. It's bad to follow someone who's wrong, and that's exactly what loyalty demands, by definition.
Of course, millennia of societies featuring
patron/client relationships of all kinds
ruling classes needing legitimacy and some degree of consent from the underclasses (otherwise it's non-stop violence, and that's expensive and dangerous, right?)
warlord arrangements with alliances between them and "favours" to their underlings
related: feudal arrangements with kings, lords, vassals, knights and oaths of fealty
militaries needing to give soldiers incentives that are stronger than self-preservation, and being unable to dangle "personal gain" in front of them full-time
strongmen/monarchs (it's a continuum) needing loyalty to their person, otherwise someone else might take their place
empires needing loyalty to the empire itself, otherwise the population might side with another empire, or go for independence
nation-states needing loyalty to the nation, so that they can effectively oppress, expel, or eliminate everyone else
and gangs (this includes states) needing cohesiveness to protect their turf from other gangs
have produced a GIGANTIC trove of literature, art, law, philosophy etc that paints loyalty as a virtue, often the ultimate virtue.
Some good reasons to accept this at face value momentarily are:
to immerse yourself in fiction and enjoy it
to put yourself in the shoes of the many real people that fell for this in the past, and so to better understand them and the societies that produced them
to put yourself in the shoes of the many real people that are falling for this as we speak, and so to better understand them and be more equipped to argue against this deeply conservative narrative
There are… no good reasons to accept this at face value for longer than that.
Now mind you, I'm not saying "don't be loyal to anyone". I'm not in the business of urging people to be virtuous here. I'm saying, if you are loyal to someone, accept it for what it is and don't pretend you deserve a medal. Own your crimes. Revel in your transgressions, even.
After all, I, too, would help my buddy hide the body. I'm just not pretending that's a good and moral thing.
