Checking my cluttered (fake?) news feed, I once again came across the term "virtue signaling."
Made me pause to consider how funny it seems that new terms get included in our language, even when they are used to describe things that have been around for a really long time.
Although the term "Virtue Signaling" (as best I can tell) formally dates to about 2015, and is typically used in the context of a certain self-righteousness typically found in so-called "Social Justice Warriors," the bones of the idea itself is pretty old.
Back in the day, I used to call it "narcissistic altruism."
Silhouettes against the sunset sky
In fact, I had more than a few friends/acquaintances who were mightily absorbed in building a public image around "how generous" and "how selfless" they were. Most of the time, they were involved in all sorts of causes and local civic events... many of which they actually knew little about, or even cared much about... expressly for the purpose of "being known as a great humanitarian."
Often their language would be peppered with snide and passive aggressive statements designed purely to establish their moral superiority over others... even though they didn't necessarily ascribe to (and live) a lifestyle that suggested they cared one whit.
At my former art gallery-- some 20 years ago-- there was this one women who'd come to all of our events because she considered herself a great patron of the arts.
She would waft into the room, carried primarily by a cloud of her own self-importance and use our champagne and snacks as a free dinner and an opportunity to grow belligerent about the cause of "starving artists" and then drift back out at the end of the evening.
Salmonberry flowers
To the best of my recollection, she never actually purchased a single piece of art in the 10-12 year period we were acquainted with her.
Meanwhile this other person I knew-- around the same time-- was eternally talking about all his donations given to charity (often in minimal amounts), mostly to let the world know what a "great humanitarian" he was.
It's actually a surprisingly common practice. Even my own mother engaged in her own version of "charity for public consumption;" supporting an assortment of causes mostly to have status with her friends and the local community around where my parents were retired.
TRULY Selfless People Tend to be Pretty Much... SELFLESS
Bark of a madrona tree
Most authentic philanthropists I've met tend to be pretty quiet about their actions and contributions... generally because they tend to be very passionate about what they are undertaking and supporting... and they do these things simply for the joy of doing them, not for recognition.
My friend Emmitt, for example, is an elderly gentleman by now... he rolls up in his mid 1990s Subaru station wagon and you'd never know that he owns half of town and probably donates a six-figure amount to an assortment of local causes... simply because he's grateful for what they are doing for the local community.
And he doesn't engage in any forms of "false humility" either... he simply doesn't find it a topic of importance to discuss his community support.
Isn't "Giving" Good, No Matter What?
Evening sky leaves
I suppose some would argue that I am making an issue out of something that is not.
After all, "isn't all giving good, as long as it is giving?"
Well, I suppose there is truth to that-- as long as donations and volunteer efforts end up in the right place, they "do good" no matter what the underlying motivation. Although... with those working towards "being seen as virtuous," there are often strings attached.
But ultimately, that wasn't what this post was about... mostly, I was just pointing out that this kind of behavior isn't some brand new thing we can conveniently pin on SJW Liberals. They didn't invent it. They merely repackaged it.
How about YOU? Have you encountered people who practiced altruism as a way to draw attention to themselves? What do you think about that sort of thing? Does it seem manipulative? Or do you think these people are justified in "wanting something" for their money? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
created by @zord189(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 171215 21:30 PDT
There is an even more extreme alternative to narcissistic altruism than simply doing your deeds quietly. A practice of some Sufi lineages, called "Malamati", or the "Path of Blame", involves finding a way to do good in a manner that you actually get blamed instead of praised for it.
As you can perhaps appreciate, it is said to be ego-destroying (your own lol) and thus the shortest path to enlightenment.
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Ah yes, reverse narcissism carried to the extreme. That "little black spot on the sun?" That was MY FAULT! Although I expect it might be a challenge to adopt in connection with doing good in the world... but I suppose you could actively reject any feelings of piousness.
Personally, I have never quite understood all the intricacies of enlightenment as the Eastern traditions describe it. Starting with the paradox that as long as you seek enlightenment you are stating that you don't have enlightenment... which is ultimately the Cosmic Joke that nothing can be attained, and hence the need to "let go," including letting go of the pursuit of enlightenment.
But hey, I'm not particularly enlightened...
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And I'll be damned if I'm gonna willingly let anyone blame me for helping them (although it does seem to happen involuntarily far too often).
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Oh man I've perfected that...hahaha, when something goes wrong and I try to help it's always my fault!
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Ultimately people just want to be loved. I really think that's most of it. What's sad is that they have the opportunity to really experience beauty and love through giving, but they miss it.
Certainly not a new thing, but I think sometimes it helps to name something. And hopefully it's a sign that people are becoming self aware in increasing numbers. What's been amusing to me is that people then post about virtue signaling to make sure you know that they're aware they (or others) are doing this thing. It starts to get sort of inceptionesque.
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I think you're precisely right-- people want to be loved. And many are too insecure to simply put their authentic selves on the line, so they create "manufactured personas" they build up and support for public consumption. I used to belong to a couple of psychology web groups and saw this happen all the time... it's less painful to be "rejected" for your artificial facade than for your true inner self... on the other hand, if someone loves your true inner self you KNOW it's YOU they care about, not just the image you project.
I'm a people and trend watcher, so I always enjoy seeing how these things take shape and develop a life of their own!
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It's true. It's frightening to put your authentic self forward. It's a huge risk, especially because there are a lot of people totally cool with being absolutely hateful, especially on social media. I'm from the south originally, and manufactured personas are a way of life. I mean we all do it to a certain degree, but being authentic is really important to me, and I just can't maintain that bullshit anymore. It's exhausting. Being authentic and vulnerable and somewhat susceptible to depression is also really hard though. I've definitely taken a hit on it lately.
Then some of it, I think, is laziness. People wanna say they support certain causes or groups but don't want to take action and don't really actually care.
I like watching the trends too, and I also like telling the young ones that they didn't invent all these ideas. I especially like playing them the Utah Phillips song on anarchy which he recorded in the 90s but talks about the person who introduced him to anarchy in the 50s. I love the young ones and mostly like to just give them shit, but also reality checks are good.
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I believe I will be stealing the term “narcissistic altruism” now that is a set of words.
I’ve known a feel people who put more of an effort and energy into letting the world know the “great deeds” they have done then what those deeds amount to. I just do what little I can when I’m able to and go on my way. Seems like a such a waste of energy otherwise.
Always feel a bit disappointed when charity’s and other events go out of there way and spend a rather significant portion of what they gathered into pandering to those who got feel that “recognition.” There a different between holding a fundraiser and giving the place away.
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I don't know what your politics are, so this may or may not apply to you, but a lot of these concepts that conservatives/alt-right come up with make very little sense to me as a progressive. Not only does the idea of "virtue signalling" make little sense to me, but I don't know anyone who actually does it. I know plenty of people who care about the causes they protest for.
I suspect that it comes down to the fact that conservatives have an inherent trouble understanding how someone could care for others that aren't close friends or related to them. I.e. conservatives lack empathy. They have to make up terms like this to explain behaviour that they really have no comprehension of how it works. It would be like me trying to explain to someone how it feels to love (intimately) someone of the same sex. I really have no idea what the feeling would be like. In fact, that probably explains conservative's aversion to homosexuals as well. It also explains their penchant for fantastical religious beliefs. Humans tend to need explanations for things they don't understand. But in the case of empathy, a lot of conservatives are just never going to get it.
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Having grown up in Denmark (a social democracy welfare state), I guess I would characterize myself as a social democrat who's also anti-victimology.
I also know plenty of people who authentically care deeply about the causes they are involved in... but there are also those who make a mockery of the whole thing by being more involved in their self-image than the cause they purport to support.
What concerns me a bit-- for the world as a whole-- is that we see more and more "extremist" behavior than in the past... the right is further right than it used to be and the left is further left, setting up a broader dynamic that neither side is really representative of the sentiments of the general public, anymore.
There are always exceptions, of course. I've typically seen the right as "self-care" and the left as "other care," both of which are paradigms that can become sort of ugly and unhealthy, when taken to extremes. Which is sortof what we are dealing with here.
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I actually think that the extremes are more genuine. They are the people who are willing to lay their body on the line, or risk going to prison, for the cause. It's actually the moderate centrists who are probably the closest to virtue signallers. I don't know about the centre-right, but the centre-left is full of middle-class people who "like" the right posts on social media, yet won't get off their arses to do anything about the problems they are superficially showing solidarity with. In their case, I suspect it's less virtue signalling and more guilt assuaging. Deep down they feel guilty for just being a cog in the machinery that causes so much injustice in the world, and they feel they have to make some of the right noises to assuage that guilt. And while I despise Marxists, I can sort of understand why they are always going on about the moderate left (social democrats in their view) as being the bigger enemy than conservatives. The moderate left, while believing in the ideals of social justice, do fuck all about it, and ultimately enable the injustices that conservatism forces on the world.
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heh...you're doing it..
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Doing what? Virtue signalling? Pointing out that conservatives lack empathy and hence have to invent nonsensical terms is virtue signalling??
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projecting.
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Projecting what?
I can't wait for your next random comment.
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Accusing conservatives of lacking empathy strikes me as intellectually dishonest. Most "conservatives" agree with "progressives," "liberals," or any other label group that problems exist, but disagree on both the causes of those problems and the proper solution.
As an anarchist (philosophical, not masked vandal) I disagree with all "solutions" involving legislation, taxation, and regulation because there is nothing compassionate about putting a government gun to someone's head and coercing compliance. Further, many social problems are consequences of self-righteously short-sighted political action in the past, and more of the same is not progress.
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Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Matthew 6:1-4, KJV (but only because newer translations have scary legalese)
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Although I am generally not big on scripture, this is one of the passages I have often felt more people would do well to take heed in.
"Giving to get" is just not a very attractive attribute, to me.
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Selfless giving starts at home, that’s how we learn to give....I struggle with giving to a wise cause verses a trendy cause. Ice bucket challenge come to mind 🧐
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Ah yes, the ice bucket challenge. It probably did some good, but I didn't particularly like the "public spectacle" aspect of it.
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Yeah it was kind of embarrassing ... People and their selfie poses on social media. I'm kind of tired of all that. I like to keep my giving close to home so I can see what's really going on...
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They pretty much lost me when some of the second tier celebrities seemed to make it more about a twitter popularity contest than anything else...
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There is not much worse than false humility. I, too, question altruism that is done only to gain attention. Sad.
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It is sort of sad... and it makes me wonder if these people care about the causes at all, or if they purely care about their own public image.
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I guess in the end, the cause is still supported, regardless of the hidden agenda. A little bright side, anyway.
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YOU
ARE
DOING
IT
RIGHT
NOW
And who can blame you - it got them upvotes, eh? Everybody does it all the time.
"Virtue signalling" is just what somebody says to somebody whose espoused values makes them feel insecure about their own.
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Not sure that quote actually came from this page, but thanks for contributing.
At the "top level" everybody is playing some kind of game... some play honestly, and some play with a biased deck. Even those who say "I'm NOT playing a game!" is actually playing the game of non-participation.
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Heh, I love this subtle Steemit understatement stuff that everybody does here.
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you filled a really interesting and relevant topic, many thought about it. There are many people who are crouching who hide behind the benefactor, in the desire to get their benefits. They are ready for much, in order to attract attention. I live in Belarus, I can say for sure that I often meet such people on my way. Some of them manipulate the situation very unevenly and not skillfully, they are given out. But there are those who do it admirably, so that very few people can discern ... There are certain layers of devotion that try to deceive you by making you feel sorry, usually in order to get financial approval. There are many more categories of people. One of those, people who often say that they are all very bad ... but in fact, is doing well ... They are doing this in order to get indulgence, wherever that was, and getting approval ....
very interesting topic, thank you
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i think so
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Why do you think so? Elaboration on thought is ideal for leaving comments on post like these.
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Yes! Another person who calls out empty spam comments!
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Once in a while. I know @denmarkguy puts a lot of effort into creating this wonderful place for leaving comments and interaction.
I’ve been to war a couple times with spam comments. Part of me just wishes they don’t know better yet to put some effort into a comment. Thus, they treat it like Twitter or YouTube comment section. They never seen to learn or want to better their interaction here. Which just seems like a wasted opportunity.
I assume most are just bots but it really is shocking when it appears it’s a human spamming out garbage comments all day long. Some I do find rather assuming when they rely back that they are not spam with some faulty logic. Then they seem to still think it’s a good time to ask for that upvote and you just want facepalm.
I enjoy it a little too much when I see a bigger account just annihilate them out of frustration.
Thankfully most of them seem to go away with time after they fail to make their $1 they need in whatever country they are living in. Which I found out once after having a conversation with one that said they would do it from internet cafes trying make more than cost plus living expenses.
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