The Scout Law and Moral Foundations Theory

This I finally read The Righteous Mind concerning morality and politics. At the core of this book is Moral Foundations Theory, and it explains more about national politics and political strategy than any other book I have seen. There at 6 moral foundations that everyone's political values seem to be based on:

• Care (for others) 
• Fairness (using the same rules as everyone else)
• Liberty (to make your own decisions)
• Loyalty (to the groups you belong to)
• Authority (respecting tradition and legitimate institutions) 
• Sanctity (cleanness and purity both physically and conceptually) 

In the USA there are then three political personality types that emerge based what moral foundations speak loudest to that individual person:

• Progressive: primary focus is on Care, believing for example that the government's responsibility is to take care of people.
• Libertarian: primary focus is on Liberty, believing that for example the government's responsibility to protect people from taxes and regulation that could impair people's free will.
• Conservative: compared to progressives and libertarians, conservatives value all six foundations equally. So for example caring about the poor but voting for a politician who does not, because that politician is trying to preserve a traditional definition of marriage, is a very conservative behavior.

(Note: Outside of the USA "liberal" means "Libertarian" and inside the USA it means "Progressive." It serves the agenda of Conservatives well to marginalize both into the same general category meaning "godless heathen." Progressives and Libertarians alike need to wage war on the pejorative "liberal" until it is no longer in political use.)

I noticed a direct correlation between The Scout Law and the Six Moral Foundations. I noticed in the past the virtues of the Scout Law were listed in related pairs. The Six Moral Foundations demonstrate how the pairs are related:

1. Trustworthy: loyalty - confidentiality
2. Loyal: loyalty - definition of loyalty
3. Helpful: fairness - equal access to information
4. Friendly: fairness - sharing values
5. Courteous: care - dignity of downtrodden
6. Kind: care - physical contribution to poor
7. Obedient: authority - obedience is obvious submission to authority
8. Cheerful: authority - attitude that sustains authority
9. Thrifty: liberty - self reliance is a critical assumption liberty depends on
10. Brave: liberty - attitude necessary to sustain liberty 
11. Clean: sanctity - definition of sanctity
12. Reverent: sanctity - definition of sanctity

I see the Scout Law not so much as a moral code, but as a list of virtues ideal for good leadership, which youth can strive for. However I can also see that if the Scout Law is embraced as a moral code, it can lead to a distinctly Conservative perspective, valuing "Loyalty" as much as "Kindness" and "Cheerfulness" as much as "Courteousness" (flying in the face of progressives,) and "Obedience" as much as "Thriftiness" and "Reverence" as much as "Bravery" (flying in the face of Libertarians.) Anyhow, it is interesting that the Six Moral Foundations are comprehensive enough to cover all the virtues in the Scout Law.