Virtue Signaling
Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 2:17 pm
I've listened to a couple of recent interviews with Bolton, and one of his favorite expressions seems to be "virtue signaling." I don't spend a lot of time taking this kind of ignorant right wing parlance seriously, but he says it so much, I started thinking about what he's trying to say here.
Essentially, it sounds like a way to quash uncomfortable criticism. For instance, if I say you should respect women after you've said something obviously sexist, you could take that opportunity to accuse me of virtue signaling: you're just trying to show everyone you respect women. Oh, the horror! So then what is the alternative? I should let your sexist comment go? Fu-ck you.
If, by virtue signaling, you mean something along the lines of Oh aren't you special then good, interpret it that way, you lowlife. If baseline decency makes me special, so be it. Maybe someday you could raise your own standards too. Fu-ck your whiny accusations. Get you own act together, you piece of sh-it, rather than trying to drag everyone down to your level.
That's how seriously we should take the accusation of virtue signaling.
Essentially, it sounds like a way to quash uncomfortable criticism. For instance, if I say you should respect women after you've said something obviously sexist, you could take that opportunity to accuse me of virtue signaling: you're just trying to show everyone you respect women. Oh, the horror! So then what is the alternative? I should let your sexist comment go? Fu-ck you.
If, by virtue signaling, you mean something along the lines of Oh aren't you special then good, interpret it that way, you lowlife. If baseline decency makes me special, so be it. Maybe someday you could raise your own standards too. Fu-ck your whiny accusations. Get you own act together, you piece of sh-it, rather than trying to drag everyone down to your level.
That's how seriously we should take the accusation of virtue signaling.