Webster defines loyalty as: a true and faithful to promise or duty. This term is used to describe love of country, love of family, and is the cornerstone of our society. Men and women spend their entire lives being loyal to professions that not only include business and the act of supporting their families but also loyalty to their communities and neighbors. In the past this loyalty was rewarded by pensions and medical insurance that was promised toward the end of their professional lives. These promises took the place of lower wages earned that could have been elevated if public sector individuals went into private fields. Can you imagine what our society would be like without the loyalty of public sector employees?

Lets' begin with policeman. How many of us would want to take a job that entails the possibility of being badly injured or killed. I am not being dramatic here. Any traffic stop or an investigation of a disturbance in any of our communities could lead to the death of a policeman. I wonder how many would volunteer to work the abstract hours many of our police officers work. Many have families but also feel the stress of having an extremely stressful job. Sometimes this stress destroys their family but because they feel loyal to their community and want to insure their neighbors are safe this possibility is accepted.

Thank God, they all do it and in an exceptionally professional manner simply to make their community a better place to live. All they ask is this same community honor the pledge of both a pension and a means of taking care of themselves and their family after their age no longer allows them to successfully complete their tasks.

Our firefighters also have odd schedules in order to protect their communities from both natural and un-natural disasters. I wonder how many of us would run into a burning building understanding the possibility of losing their life and the future of their family. I wonder how many of us would rush to car accidents with the knowledge that what they see and have to help would make most of our stomachs turn inside out.

Thank God, they all do it and in an exceptionally professional manner simply to make their community a better place to live. All they ask is this same community honor the pledge of both a pension and a means of taking care of themselves and their family after their age no longer allows them to successfully complete their tasks.

How could we offer our children an opportunity to live a better life if it were not for their teachers? Many of the wealthy in our society think the Jeffersonian concept of public education a foolish one. Why should the masses be educated? Is it a right for the wealthy to enjoy the better life and the legacy of the not-so-rich to take care of and support the wealthy? Teachers take vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty because they were also promised to be taken care of when it was time for them to step down in order to allow the young to take over their positions.

Thank God, they all do it and in an exceptionally professional manner simply to make their community a better place to live. All they ask is this same community honor the pledge of both a pension and a means of taking care of themselves and their family after their age no longer allows them to successfully complete their tasks.

We are now living in difficult economic situations. I don't know of a policeman, fire fighter, or teacher who is responsible for theses conditions. Yet, all across our nation communities; those who were professionally served by their public workers, are being blamed for the economic downturn. I read articles displaying how public employees are literally raping their communities because of exaggerated pension programs. If you look closely at these lists it will become obvious there are exponentially low numbers of public employees taking advantage of their pension programs.

Many communities are now putting pressure on public employees who have years of experience successfully doing their jobs. People of power want these people to retire before they are ready because they are paid according to their experience. I wonder if these same people realize how many years of sacrifice these public employees lived through in order to have built up this experience. I also wonder if these same people understand how effective a veteran police, fire, and teaching staff are to their communities. I wonder if any of the people in power would rely on a heart surgeon who has decades of experience instead of putting their lives into the hands of a surgeon who has little experience but read the book well. The people in power should feel the same way about their communities.

Families, communities, and whole nations survive because of a clear understanding of the concept of loyalty. If this practice is dismissed because of difficult economic conditions the potential of recovering will be forever lost.

Jim Fabiano is a teacher and writer living in York, Maine. You can E-mail Jim at:

James.fabian060@gmail.com