Tired of glib virtue signalling

[Dooferer]

Class whatapp group chat. Supposedly about the going’s on in primary school. One mum reminds us to lodge our opposition to the Jackdaw / Rosebank oil and gas proposals being considered by the government. ‘It’s so complex isn’t it’ I posted, trying to see whether she had considered all of the factors. The pros (might raise tax, good for energy security, good for Aberdeen city, gives the message UK is friendly to investors, we’re still importing gas anyway) and the cons - flies in the face of commitments to climate. She had no idea. Literally no idea. It was just fossil fuels = bad. The expectation that she would meet a willing echo chsmbed pissed me off. And fair enough, it encouraged lots of glib virtue signalling.

My 25 year old nephew was going on about how transphobic JKR was. What’s she said? He could point to absolutely nothing. Nada. Zero. But he says it anyway.

Once you notice it, you see it everywhere and if you do get a chance to probe for further details 9 times out of 10 there are none. What is it with the vacuous virtue signalling? Is it a social media thing? It’s so odd. What happened to nuance, debate, and not opening your gob until you were sure of your ideas?

It's one of those irregular verbs. Eg

I hold a balanced view of a complex issue
You are not considering all the factors
She is engaging in vacuous virtue-signalling

They cherry pick what they want to get outraged about. Don't look at situations in context and insist they are right. YANBU.

Social media is not conducive to detail/complexity/nuance. Books are but who has time to read several books on a topic? And who would they discuss them with if they did?!

I work in an office with people who wear virtue signalling badges, or ‘pins’ as they call them.

🤢 🤮

I mean, it’s subjective isn’t it?

One person’s virtue signalling is another person’s strongly held belief.

I can see both sides of both the issues you mentioned in your post. I don’t necessarily wholly disagree with you, but why do you take it as an article of faith that she is virtue signaling and you are not?

Virtue signalling is real, but I think nowadays its a very easy comeback when someone expresses any progressive or left wing view that they are automatically assumed to be virtue signalling. I worry about the mindset that dictates that anyone who has a strong political belief (particularly on the left) is assumed to have an ulterior motive.

Maybe, just maybe, they actually believe in it?

I’m so tired of issues being referred to as “complex” because it signals, perhaps inadvertently, that a higher level of intelligence or specialisation is needed to understand them. It shuts down the conversation.

I think they do believe in it. But when they don’t take the time to understand it they lose perspective as to why others find it offensive I think. I love my nephew but my goodness my heart sank when he trotted out the ‘JK Rowling is transphobic’ myth. I thought less of him, and I don’t want to do that. I just expected him to think before he trotted out nonsense, and if he had thought he wouldn’t have said it cause she’s not transphobic at all. There’s no evidence whatsoever. He clearly does no research before forming a view.

People have stopped thinking and it’s tiresome.

One person’s virtue signalling is another person’s strongly held belief.

I think the assumption (by me) is that one person can have a go at talking through the issues intelligently, or at least have a go, and the other is saying it because it’s fashionable but they haven’t bothered to actually find out anything about it.

Sure. But there is oversimplification on both sides of the political spectrum. The right and the left do it.

But somehow when it’s a right wing argument its “standing up for our values” or “telling it as I see it,” but when its the left its “virtue signalling”.

The assumption is that progressive values are somehow fake while right or centrist ones are authentic. I think its a bit of a smokescreen.

(I don’t have any skin in the left game btw, I am a centrist, but it’s very noticeable that people who hold progressive views are often assumed to be posturing while those on the right are not.)