Ingroup Loyalty

The culture, characteristics and politics of the species is based on Moral Foundations Theory, and specifically for this theme, the theory that conservatives tend to value ingroup loyalty more strongly than liberals.

The strength of ingroup loyalty drives a lot of human behaviour: Exploring ingroup loyalty will naturally lend itself to lots of examples of Myside Bias, often conflicting and contradictory.
 * War
 * Corporate culture and organisational behaviour
 * Passionate support of local sporting teams
 * Dress codes and haristyles in teenage sub-cultures

"Nested Ingroups"
Everybody
 * The Unified Kingdoms of Freedomia
 * Kingdom
 * City/town of residence
 * Religion/subculture
 * Social rank
 * Profession and Workplace
 * Clubs and societies*
 * Sporting team supported
 * Extended Family
 * Immediate Family
 * Includes secret societies (see below)

In the Kingdoms
"Us and Them" tribalism is a major driver of conflict and tension within the Kingdoms: Dwarfs are patriotic and loyal to the King (when it's a King they agree with). Elves are unpatriotic traitors who want to destroy the Freedomian Way of Life and let the The Inter-Courts (IC) take control. Whihc is not to say that Elves have no ingroup loyalty issues of their own, they're just different.
 * Dwarfs strongly value ingroup loyalty, and find displays of disloyalty moreally offensive
 * Elves are splintered into many smaller tribes, each with their own ingroup patterns and rules
 * the rise of the T-Party creates a fierce "With Us or Against Us" batle within the Troll Kingdom
 * Orcs are known to use threats of violence to maintain ingroup loyalty, espeically when illegal and corrupt behaviour might be taking place

Possible Plot Elements
Bush Family ties to Skull and Bones secret society...


 * "A longstanding tradition among members of Skull and Bones holds that Prescott S. Bush — father of President George Bush and grandfather of President George W. Bush — broke into the grave with some classmates during World War I and made off with the skull, two bones, a bridle and some stirrups, all of which were put on display at the group’s clubhouse in New Haven, known as the Tomb."


 * Geronimo’s Heirs Sue Secret Yale Society Over His Skull  (NY Times)

On the Web
Moral Foundations Theory (Wikipedia)

Moral Foundations Theory (moralfoundations.corg)

The Dark Power of Fraternities