Saturday, May 14, 2016

Virtue Signaling



A smattering of Bernie signs have begun to appear on the Peninsula. After the Democratic convention in late July, we'll see a lot of Hillary + [running mate] bumper stickers.

This is a phenomenon known as virtue signalling ("the expression or promotion of viewpoints that are especially valued within a social group").

When one signals agreement with the dominant ideology, e.g.,Hillary or Bernie in the SF Bay Area or a fish symbol or NRA sticker in the Bible belt, it's really a sign of weakness. Without the need to persuade even more people to the majority viewpoint, the motive stands revealed: look at how virtuous I am.

Your humble blogger usually supports candidates who do not subscribe to the local dominant ideology but freely admits he is too chicken to announce it. I don't want to have my car keyed.

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