Reply #8: That's far too simplistic

[starroute]

Justice and altruism are universal values. They may not be the ultimate values, but they're as good as we humans can aspire to right now.

On the other hand, things like loyalty, deference to authority, and purity are tribal values. Somebody upthread suggested they were medieval -- but they're nothing that up to date. They go back, most likely, to the late Paleolithic, when small family bands of a couple of dozen individuals were giving way to larger tribal groupings, with complex rules about us vs. them and who it was okay to marry and with chiefs or councils of elders to make the decisions.

The United States is not just one big, overinflated tribe, though conservatives would like to see it that way. It was based on 18th century social contract theory -- on the idea that people join together for their common good, giving up some portion of their freedom in exchange for security and prosperity -- and our allegiance as Americans is solely to that ideal. This is why the presidential oath of office is a promise to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States -- not the nation, not its citizens, but the intangible contract by which we have all agreed to live.

There may be two kinds of values -- but only one kind went into the founding of this nation, while the other kind is far more inclined to destroy it.