Loyalty

   Loyalty is a wonderful thing, and people thrive on it, in relationships all the way from marriages, families and sports teams to employment, political parties and nations.
   But unquestioning loyalty based on obedience to another person or concept can be dangerous if people refuse to consider why they are loyal, and always do what they are told by a self-appointed leader.
   Too often, leaders manipulate this concept of loyalty to fuel their ambitions for control. When the goals are noble and wise, this is not necessarily bad. However, demagogues can use the same strategies for their own purposes, hiding their true goals from those they persuade to be unquestioning, totally loyal followers.
   History is full of examples of political leaders tapping into potential public unrest or suspicion as a way to gain absolute loyalty, persuading ordinarily thoughtful people to support them in every way.
   As they do this, the demagogues select a target for their jibes and insults, encouraging public suspicion and fear of strangers as a way to reinforce their own agenda, which may be hidden from the public.
   It is journalism's job, however, to detect and expose this hidden agenda so the public can know the background and potential dangers of supporting overly ambitious political leaders.
   In doing so, journalists risk becoming targets themselves of the demagogue's wrath, as he rails against them to his increasingly loyal supporters attacking what he calls "fake media," and labeling journalists "the enemy of the people."
   In doing so, the demagogue effectively incites violence against those who are reporting his words, detailing how his speeches conflict with fact and explaining why as well as how his actions can lead to serious problems.
   Historians can list many examples in the world on how an ambitious political leader may well start out with noble ambitions to increase the welfare of the people of a nation. But too often, some of these leaders lose sight of their principles, if in fact they had them to begin with, and soon become themselves an "enemy of the people," spreading falsehoods and bigotry to feed their own ambitions.
   The issue now facing Americans is whether the nation is being confronted with a new example of demagoguery that leads to tyranny.
   Meanwhile, it is journalism's duty to report the comments and actions of any political leader who manipulates truth as a way to bend loyalty to obedience.
   This is the concept behind the motto for this writer's musings:
   Belief Without Thought Endangers Freedom.