Virtue Signaling and Republican Communication



Paul Ryan’s Virtue Signaling



The Power of Dog Whistles





Trivializing Language



The Rise of Virtue Signaling in Republicans





About Frank Moraes


7 thoughts on “Virtue Signaling and Republican Communication

  1. That really is a dead giveaway, isn’t it? If someone mocks you for expressing a sympathetic point of view towards any underdogs, they’re probably a person who has absolutely no sympathy for anyone besides themselves. It’s not always the case — people can have bad memories which makes them less sympathetic towards a particular subset of humans — but generally, when they accuse you of pretending compassion, it’s because they don’t have any.

    Why they don’t have any — that’s a difficult question.

    • Absolutely. It’s the same with “political correctness.” Everyone has their own form of this. Everyone thinks that certain things shouldn’t be said or done. Passing laws against burning the flag is a prototypical case of political correctness. No one complains about political correctness that they agree with. So when Trump complains about political correctness meant to space the feelings of African Americans, what he’s really saying is that he doesn’t care about the feelings of African Americans. People who complain about the prohibition against using the n-word aren’t upset for free speech reasons; they are people who want to use the word.

      In the case of “virtue signaling,” it is just jerks who can’t imagine that people really do care about, say, the treatment of Native Americans. After all, they don’t care. In fact, read the comments to Ayn Rand and Indians. It’s amazing how vile they are. I’m sure they think I am virtue signaling. What’s actually going on is that I naturally align with those who are oppressed because I’ve always seen myself as the weak. What I find interesting is that so many weak people (almost all people are actually weak) identify with the powerful. But I would never say that such people were lying about it.

    • That is a funny video — so is another one on “Cultural Marxism” I watched immediately afterwards by the same guy. A part of me, though, watches these things and makes me wish I’d never heard of the internet. I honestly don’t see the point in engaging with disturbed individuals. I’ve never had an internet fight that didn’t make me feel degraded afterwards. What if you “win”? (You never “win” an internet fight, although you can make the other person go away.) What does that accomplish? You made someone even angrier? I’m not sure what good that does.

      But I tend to participate in online communities like this one, where there are firm site mods. (My favorite-ever online discussions were in community college courses, where debate is encouraged and rudeness strictly prohibited.) For people who play online games or engage with social media constantly, trolls spewing half-bright insults like “virtue signaling” must be a common annoyance. I’m not sure what to do about such people.

  2. “takes precedence over his (Paul Ryan) hatred of racism…”
    Objection. Assuming facts not in evidence. And I’m not referring to your probably correct view of racism as background radiation in the human mind. I mean if you strapped Speaker Ryan in a chair and administered a polygraph test and a large syringe of sodium amytal don’t think we would get too far into the session before we started hearing references to “those people”. Conservatism, as it is known today, lacks a commitment to universal human rights. Your rights are only what you can buy with money. This belief easily lends itself to racism. Indeed, it would require considerable discipline to hold this denial of humanity to others and not use racism to suppress the natural dissonance felt in the sight of human suffering.

    • In Ryan’s “defense,” he probably hates poor people of every ethnicity equally. But I’m sure you’re right, and his sort presume some kind of moral/genetic inferiority that explains Black poverty. Anything but systematic, institutional racism.

      In the Ryan/Rand worldview, there can ultimately be no such thing as ill-gotten gains. Wealth always signifies virtue, poverty always signals worthlessness. Racism therefore cannot be a reason for whites having more power. And it’s very easy to convince oneself of this; just point to a rich African-American and think “anyone can make it, hence the others are flawed.”

      Ryan survived childhood via our then-stronger social safety net. His ilk, in my experience, tend to assume they would have survived just fine without public assistance. They’re successful now — e.g., they are superior humans — and so it was inevitable that they would do great. Accordingly there is nothing immoral about demolishing the safety net for others, so that the Good People get tax cuts. It’s what the holy market would want.

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