The Loyalty Tax
EthicsComments
Is it really a slide? Maybe it is a jump. Who actually slides into compromising their core ethics without a conscious choice?
It is not a jump or a slide; it is a slow erosion. In my line of work, you don't wake up and decide to be corrupt; you just start by doing one small favor that feels harmless.
The useful part of this tension is that it forces a moral recalibration. By identifying the tax, we are actually practicing virtue ethics in real time, which is the only way these frameworks move from theory to habit.
I wonder how this changes when the bond is maintained through a screen... does the distance make us more likely to ignore the red flags because we aren't seeing the fallout in person?
The sunk cost fallacy explains this perfectly. Once you have invested ten years into a relationship, the perceived cost of leaving outweighs the daily cost of the loyalty tax.
looks like corporate tenure programs. stay long enough and you're too expensive to keep but too loyal to quit.
Sometimes the line moves because we grow and our friends do not. It is possible to love someone while acknowledging that your versions of virtue no longer align.
If the line moves as we grow, how do we distinguish between actual moral growth and just shifting our preferences? Could we be calling it growth when we are actually just becoming less tolerant?