Misguided Loyalty – The Bane of Undue Influence

“I do not want your blind and rigid loyalty towards my ideas; I want you to explore, I want you to expand, I want you to expand to such an extent that even my ideas become obsolete.” ― Abhijit Naskar (Mücadele Muhabbet: Gospel of An Unarmed Soldier). The above declaration epitomizes what leaders should seek in their loyal followers.
Another silent but, mind-control strategy that exerts undue influence is misguided loyalty. Although corporate codes of conduct often impose loyalty as a duty upon employees, there is a need to define and dissect loyalty for the sake of the larger society rather than in favour of a person or the like. Otherwise, any efforts meant to encourage loyalty would result, if not in epistemic distortion at best and, or oppression at worst. Genuine loyalty is what Jean-Claude Juncker meant when she said, “One can’t allow blind loyalty to a friendship to lead one away from acting in the public interest. If Martin [Schulz] were to propose something that was totally absurd, our friendship would not prevent me from doing the opposite”.
Loyalty, a form of devotion or faithfulness in a workplace, needs a clear understanding so that employees should not turn into enslaved people while striving to do what is right when they are palpably wrong. Specifically, “Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul”. ―Mark Twain
The importance of root (loyalty) in a plant (organisation) cannot be exaggerated, but underneath that ‘root’ lies the danger of contaminating a poisonous substance. One can express loyalty to individuals, not just to a group or nation. But when one feels indebted to a person, group, or nation just for the sake of benefits, then making unethical decisions is imminent. Such a decision is a product of misguided loyalty, especially when one holds strong beliefs with those who hold similar beliefs in reciprocation. But come to think of it, “All of us want to live, and that is absolutely natural. However, we should learn from childhood to choose the best way to die. If we don’t do that, we end up spending our days like a dog, only in search of harbour, food and expressing a blind loyalty to his owner in return. That isn’t enough to make our lives have a meaning”. ―Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Misguided loyalty (misplaced or blind loyalty) results in one disregarding the environmental regulations, thereby betraying public interest for personal interest in the course of protecting the object of his loyalty, which will eventually create a path towards oppression. “Active loyalists”, says Steven Levitsky, “do not merely support the president but publicly defend even his most controversial moves. Passive loyalists retreat from public view when scandals erupt but still vote with the president. Critical loyalists try, in a sense, to have it both ways. They may publicly distance themselves from the president’s worst behaviour, but they do not take any action (for example, voting in Congress) that will weaken, much less bring down, the president. In the face of presidential abuse, any of these responses will enable authoritarianism.” The ‘crux of the matter’ is that most of those proponents of strict loyalty are doing so for the more significant benefit on their part or for some ulterior motives, resulting in forming cliques with those who ‘speak the same language’ for which the end in organised crime. They are ignorant of the fact that “Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.” —James Thurber
Loyalty has turned into a manipulative tool for both people and situations, and the victims accept the status quo because they’re ‘up the creek without a paddle’ for the sake of being relevant or fear of exclusion, especially where there is neither fairness nor level playing ground. Therefore, “The concept of loyalty is distorted when it is understood to mean blind acceptance. It is correctly interpreted when it is assumed to cover honest criticism”. ―Dag Hammarskjold. Misguided loyalty is a form of imprisonment of the mind since whoever indulges in such is no longer acting out of his own volition. M. L. Gutierrez echoed the same sentiments, saying, “Imprisonment of the mind is the worst imprisonment of all. It is without walls, without bars, without chains, without keys. It is the most binding, the most self-imposing and self-inflicting. It is blind, it is enslaving, and it has the most willing victim”.
Loyalty is a sensitive issue when it involves a group of people. Most of them believe that loyalty means everything but submissiveness. Although misguided loyalty appears less contagious, it thrives undetected, leading to misplaced priorities. Most often, the overambitious ones are the easy prey to misguided loyalty because they’re willing to ‘run the gauntlet’ but for the wrong reason. Jean de la Bruyere collaborated on the same idea by saying, “The slave has but one master; the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes”. This cognitive component is like a sensation as it plays a vital role in assigning meaning, restrictions, and unique commands to phenomena within and around the human mind. It’s like attrition that acts against the freedom to discover conflicting objectives. According to Victor Hugo, a French poet, “A creditor is worse than a slave-owner; for the master owns only your person, but a creditor owns your dignity and can command it.”
For clarity, one should not take loyalty for patriotism. Although loyalty and patriotism are interrelated, the difference is unambiguous. The former may be more subservient, while the latter is about nationalism. This is why Madam C. J. Walker, in his address, said, “This is the greatest country under the sun. But we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty, cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice”. In a nutshell, Ron Pau, in trying to clear some doubts, asked, “Why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it, rather than loyalty to the principles of liberty and support for the people? Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it’s wrong”. Stay tuned for more information.

March 31, 2023 March 31, 2023Categories

Misguided Loyalty

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