Despite my aversion to binge watching television, I recently finished the HBO miniseries The White Lotus. I won’t go into details about the show except that it follows a group of vacationers at a luxury resort in Hawaiʻi. For the purposes of this piece, I’ll focus on two exceptionally written characters named Olivia and Paula. All you need to know is that these two are:
- college students who most likely attend an elite liberal arts institution
- are very left leaning in their politics to the extent that the term “woke” is pejoratively used to describe their perspectives
- unaware about the misalignment between their vacation and their social justice values
- objectively very mean people
Almost all the characters on The White Lotus are vile and the equivalent of a 50-mile, 500-car pile-up on the I-95. However, I am absolutely drawn to Olivia and Paula. I’ve seen their behaviors before. I’ve experienced their moral grandstanding. I knew these people.
As someone who now lives on the Oakland/Berkeley border, I am in proximity to a few Olivias and Paulas. I’ve met them at personal and professional events. I read Olivia and Paula-esque “thought pieces” on the internet. Depending on who you ask, I may actually be one of these people. Olivia and Paula are people who supposedly signal things that have virtue or emit virtues that have signals. They are the so-called virtue signalers.
I see, hear, read, and think about the term “virtue signal” a lot. At a high level, to virtue signal is to publicly express opinions on issues in an effort to indicate that you are a good, righteous person. Lately, the term has evolved to imply hypocrisy – a mismatch of stated values with real action. Although it has been associated with liberal perspectives, I strongly believe that virtual signaling is politically agnostic with plenty of examples on both the right and the left.
The public dialogue on virtue signaling is confusing to me. It feels as if we recently discovered how complex and contradictory humanity is. After all, aren’t we all some failed manifestation of our values? Don’t we all occasionally falter against the images and words we project? Aren’t we trying to establish a more perfect union between what we think and what we do? Didn’t I just eat 13 Oreos after devouring a steak despite my declarations of living a healthier, plant-based, de-carbonized life? Didn’t you?
On the other hand, I understand the frustrations that underlie our disdain for the virtual signaler. I was triggered by the characterization of Olivia and Paula for a reason despite my alignment with their political views. I loathe the meaningless and mean chatter that absorbs our political and digital spaces, rendering us stuck in a cycle of inaction. I am alarmed by the number of times in which I have agreed with someone intellectually and politically, but felt the lack of kindness and compassion in their actions toward others. I am disheartened that the solutions-oriented people in our community often don’t have a microphone. I dislike the terms “thought leader” and “influencer” so, so, so much. I’m often disappointed by the personal follies of people who carry those two aforementioned labels.
Most of all, I hate the yard signs.
You know those dumb ass signs. Those pieces of corrugated plastic hoisted by metal prongs declaring that “in this house, we believe…”. I actually agree with the signs, but thatʻs not really the point. It’s the physical manifestation of a social media post that leaves me asking more questions – who are you, do you really, if so why do you believe that, what do you do to align those statements with your actions, who are you voting for, who the hell is making all these signs, do you see the irony of these signs given that we live in an incredibly homogenous neighborhood (including the choice of yard sign erected in yards)?
This year, my intention is to create more than I criticize, which is strange given the content of what I just wrote – a criticism of the action-less critics of our world. Again, I may be a virtue signaler, but whatever. And so here, in their signaling virtuosity, are some alternative signs that I am thinking about placing in my yard:
