Bit long, but arguably an oath creates and represents value. Simply, it separates you from the in-group vs. out-group, and confers identity, conditional upon i

Bit long, but arguably an oath creates and represents value. Simply, it separates you from the in-group vs. out-group, and confers identity, conditional upon its integrity. We don't really have them in modern society outside of fraternities, a few gated professions, security clearances, and whatever policing is. Oddly, oaths of public office barely count as nobody expects office holders to live up to them when the heat is on, and they do not confer membership. Then again, given who still takes them, we could say that modern society runs on a foundation of oaths, but what's changed is prosecution and investigation techniques are such that there isn't much of an enforcement mechanism for breaking them. If unenforceable oaths underwrite our institutions, what does it mean for them?