To Hear the Call for Loyalty

This image depicts the rapper Eminem’s hit song “25 To Life.”  The basic summary of the song is that Eminem dedicated his life to hip-hop, depicted as a controlling wife, who never repaid the favor or did anything for him.  The picture is of a man, most likely Eminem, in a jumpsuit signifying how he’s imprisoned by hip-hop, his job.  The words friendship, loyalty, and commitment encircle the man because he’s displayed all of the above to his career.  “25 TA LIFE” is written above his head and on his jumpsuit as a constant reminder of how he’s served a life sentence to hip-hop.  In the song Eminem says “Don’t think I’m loyal/ All I do is rap/ I cannot moonlight on the side/ I have no life outside of that.”  His loyalty to rap has overpowered all other loyalties he carries.

Eminem exhibits loyalty to his career and aspirations.  He spends his time focusing completely on hip-hop, neglecting all other parts of his life.  While it is excellent to work towards success and accomplishment, it is never a good idea to become so loyal to a profession that all other sections of life fall into the background.  I agree that loyalty to one’s dreams, including successfully contributing to the workforce, is an important quality to have.  But when it blocks out everything else, one has too much loyalty to those particular aspirations.  A person must be able to balance loyalty to his or her career while maintaining a life.  With that in mind, Eminem precariously holds the various aspects of life in his hands.  He was excessively loyal to his professional life and lacked loyalty to his family and friends.

The picture shows a scene in a Roman coliseum where Christians were sentenced to death because of their religious beliefs.  Wild animals were let loose on the people to rip their bodies to shreds before an audience.  These people were known as martyrs and often inspired more Pagans to convert to Christianity through their extreme dedication and commitment to their beliefs.  The picture shows a lion, recently released from its den, approaching a group huddled together in brotherhood.  The formation of the people, gathered on their knees around one standing man lifting his face towards the sky, may show a cry to God for protection and comfort.  Loyalty in this case, is to religion.  Martyrs demonstrate immense loyalty to God and their faith through their commitment to their beliefs until the bloody end.  Being torn apart by a wild animal is definitely not a quick way to end a life, but it is a rather brutal, painful, and slow process.  A person would have to be intent on their belief in God to endure such persecution, especially since he or she could avoid all attack by simply recanting.

I believe that martyrs have an amazing sense of loyalty to their religion.  Though I wish I could say that I’m that dedicated to give my life for my beliefs, if I were in the moment, I don’t know what I would do.  Imagining the ferocity of the beast gnawing at my every limb and lacerating my body while I lay vulnerable and helpless, terrifies me. But being that loyal to God is ideal and definitely a level to strive for.

In this picture, a Nazi soldier is about to kill a Jewish woman and her child during the Holocaust.  There are two aspects of loyalty represented in the photograph.  The Nazi soldier displays loyalty to his country while the Jewish woman exhibits loyalty to her family.

The soldier, despite possible personal objections, is following the leaders of his government.  Hitler in particular, was severely racist and discriminative.  He called for millions of innocent people’s deaths for no legitimate reasons other than personal bias.  I believe that loyalty to one’s government must always be checked and balanced.  Nazi soldiers obeyed orders to commit cruel and unusual acts to the Jewish people simply because the differing color of their eyes, skin, and hair.  The Holocaust, and all the destruction that resulted from it, is a prime example of how citizens must be cautious when blindly remaining loyal to leadership, whether it be the government or another authority figure.

The Jewish mother shields her child in her arms, trying to protect him while their lives hang by a thin string.  Despite there being limited to no chance of survival for the two, the woman is fighting until the bitter end to save her child.  The loyalty she has to her family as a mother is commendable.  When a woman becomes a mother, she is committing her life to her children.  She is making an unspoken pledge to her children to shelter, provide for, and love.  I believe that this extent of loyalty is what all people should strive for.  The woman’s loyalty to her child is fulfilling her commitment to protect him, even though their fate is completely out of her hands.

This photograph was taken at one of the most significant events in a person’s life.  The image is of a wedding, but this isn’t just any bride and groom, these two people are partaking in an arranged marriage.  Arranged marriage is a tradition that several cultures and families practice.  Loyalty exhibited here is to culture and family.  To what extent will people go to remain loyal to the traditions of their heritage and the people who raised them?

While I’m not necessarily opposed to others’ involvement in arranged marriage, I would not appreciate that degree of control from others in my own life.  I think it would be really difficult for me to be disloyal to my family and even culture if I was in an arranged marriage.  Traditions are difficult to break or change and in many ways refusing an arranged marriage is similar to changing a long, accepted tradition.  But where should the line of loyalty be drawn?  Marriage, in my opinion, is one of the most intimate relationships in life.  When someone is deciding who another is supposed to spend every day of their life with, I think that tradition is demanding too much loyalty.  Though, society has drilled into people’s minds that “blood is thicker than water.”  From the time we are children, we are taught that family is one of the most important aspects of life.  If a person turns their back on an arranged marriage, how are they supposed to walk away without feeling disloyal?

This photograph shows a number of Miley Cyrus fans waiting in line for concert tickets.  Most likely, they’ve been and will continue to wait for several hours.  This type of loyalty is directed at a celebrity.

Loyalty like this is superficial.  It fades in and out with the fads.  One day a person will claim to be the biggest fan of a sports team or movie celebrity then turn around and jump to another pop star or model.  While this may appear to contradict the idea of loyalty, I’d argue that it doesn’t.  Often times, while superficial loyalty disappears quickly, it is very strong.  These fans show a degree of commitment through actions that are seemingly stupid and petty but require huge allotments of time, effort, and loyalty to the cause.  This effort could be used more productively for other purposes but credit must be given where credit is due.  These fans showcase a lot of loyalty in their own form and for a potentially short period of time, but at the end of the day it still is a unique loyalty.

While I look upon fans like this and wonder what could possibly be running through their minds, I must still commend them for such great dedication.  I guess in a way everybody has superficial loyalty for something.  It may be focused toward a person, place, television series, team, anything really.  Everyone looks toward something and follows it whole heartedly.  While most don’t go to such great lengths to display loyalty, it exists within everyone to a certain degree.

The book cover shows a loyalty found in the world of business.  The image is of two people shaking hands with cars washed out in the background.  In big, bold, blue letters the words “Customer Loyalty” are prominently placed in the foreground.  Customer loyalty is a very interesting form loyalty.  Loyalty is generally developed over time; it’s a promise that one is committing oneself to another through anything, good or bad.  It seems difficult for a business to have full loyalty to complete strangers.  But most businesses pride themselves on this ideal.  The company is dedicating itself to protecting its customers and satisfying their needs.  Interestingly, the underlying idea behind customer loyalty is to turn the tables and gain the customer’s loyalty for a lifetime.  Car dealerships promote customer loyalty in order to have its customers continuously purchase from them and nobody else.

I actually find this concept rather ironic.  Companies and businesses are loyal to their customers just to get their customers to be loyal to them.  Basically, businesses are only promoting customer loyalty to make more money.  Underneath it all, customer loyalty on companies’ behalf, is rather deceptive and selfish rather than a good hearted gesture.  If loyalty is dedicating oneself to another for all weather conditions, which is supposed to be a caring and beautiful value, does that mean customer loyalty should not be considered loyalty?  Though technically, loyalty must be earned and developed.  So, in order for companies to gain their customer’s loyalty, they must have aspects like customer loyalty.  If the company treats the consumer well, then by default the consumer will want to be loyal to the company.  In this case, it’s rather difficult to determine which perspective is right.