I think maybe instead of loyalty just some appreciation for the things that were good. Otherwise easy to turn to this toxic Blind-style cynicism, that never sat right with ne.

I'm all about appreciation, and I don't sit well with the culture on Blind either.

However, there is a difference in appreciating a situation and being professional vs being ignorant of the ultimate fact: at any time, the business can just let you go, either via layoff or other means. Its best to be aware that unless you're in the C-suite, you're a cog in the machine.

That however, is not an excuse to do bad work or act unprofessionally

Agreed but the image of loyalty is valuable even if loyalty is never worth giving

A person is rarely so f'ed as when their manager _no_ longer believes that person would always act in their (the managers) best interest.

Nobody is perfectly loyal. However some companies are more loyal than others. Some places you regularly see 10% let go. Others go decades between laying people off. Of course things can change at any time, but both extremes exist and generally come with enough other culture factors that they won't change very fast without obvious warning (that is getting bought out)