Tuesday, September 23, 2008

On Primary Loyalty

This post is a tangent from my typical blog as it's a reply to selil which in turn is a reply to mtanji as instigated by Robb.

I see the question of primary loyalty as a means to the ends of which Selil suggested. More precisely I see the goal of the majority of Americans as the safety and success of their family. The primary loyalty factor is what determines in the safety/success of said family.

Examples:

  • jobs. A company you work for may allow this. Large corporations will keep your family secure in order to keep employees. Smaller companies may have a direct impact on the community at large which directly pays off for the individual (local government, local utilities, tool & die manufacturer, farmer.
  • industry. Specifically union jobs. teachers, plumbers, truckers, firefighters, cops, information technology.
  • extended family. Everyone has an uncle who is a farmer right? I certainly do.
  • religion. Not necessarily a faith as much as the local church, temple, or synagogue.
The vast majority of us will choose from these as well as other options as their primary loyalty to fulfill their commitment as a family member. A minority will have shunned their family and will align with sources of power and be detrimental to society by having their PL and family be the same thing (such as gangs or terrorists or Robb's global guerrillas). Off the cuff I suspect the confusion of PL and family as what leads to (or promotes) extremism.
Tanji's second question is perhaps easier. I vote for the Internet to allow myself the most choice. Choice is key. In RC world I hope for self correcting and connecting wireless networks which provide nearly the same level of connectedness as today if not more.
In the end we have at least two options, either a pizza delivery guy or an android in the center of the moon.