The (im)morality of virtue signaling
The tools of control
Mine was the fourth on the nature and our understanding of politics; a subject that does not seem to leave me alone. Reading this ninth chapter of Elizabeth’s book made me realize that I did not even touch on the subject of the most important, most damaging players of the political performance art: the tools, dupes, NPCs, Karens and other useful idiots of political virtue signaling.
In The meaning of politics  I tried to make the point that politics has many layers, interpretations and understandings; while also pointing out the many things that should not be considered politics.
In Taxing inflation I tried to describe the gap between political realities and narratives.
In Politics for the pragmatic soul I tried to show that submission to the system legitimizes its existence making its reform impossible.
In The performance art of petitions I tried to show that ‘changes’ initiated from below are even more pathetic than from within.
Then I read the chapter from Elizabeth Nickson’s book to realize that
The strength of any system grows out of the emotional support for its idealized narrative.
That is the foundation of all political power, the faith and trust in various narratives. The narrative has to be appealing (meaning easy to embrace), emotional and virtuous.
You cannot have politics, you cannot have real power without people. Ideas cannot get far without the support of the people possessed by them. We, collectively, empower politics with our emotional dependence on simplistic answers.
The bureaucracies behind the environmental movement, the regulators, the Military Industrial complex, Big Pharma and the globalists all need a fearful populace clamoring for the sense of safety, however phony it is.
The mainstream media is helping them by articulating the narrative, by the gaslighting of reality and the enforcement of the dogma. They are herding the people into the confines of the idea.
Whatever the subject is, the script is always the same:
The controllers of power create a scare. The supposed dangers must be serious, with an easily identifiable culprit.
The effects of the problem must be oversized, vague and poorly defined.
The designated solution must be a very simple and unitary response. There can be only a single solution that is easy to identify with.
The solution MUST include a governmental and, in most cases, an international response.
The solution must involve a great degree of personal moral responsibility.
The solution MUST be dependent on full compliance from everybody. It requires compliance with any and all rules no matter how irrational, stupid, un-scientific, self-contradicting, arbitrary, tortured, constantly changing or ridiculous they are.
Dissenters, doubters and anybody questioning the official narrative must be confronted and penalized. Subjected to law-fare, harassment and doxing; fired from their jobs, stripped from their professional accreditation, expelled from professional associations.
The media will suppress, censor, fact-choke, shadow ban and slander any evidence that is counter-factual of the narrative, even if it is coming from the most authoritative sources. Â
The most important task of the compliant is the enforcement of the compliance of others.
We can only be safe if we are all compliant. The embrace of the narrative is considered morality itself.
You can apply this script to many issues in the past few decades. Just consider the three biggest: climate change, Covid and the War in Ukraine.
Climate change
Climate change will kill us all. The growth of CO2 in the atmosphere is the only cause of it and our fossil fuel burning lifestyle is the only contributor that matters. Humanity is the enemy of the planet and all life on it. We are all guilty, and we have to pay our penance with earnest compliance. If you don’t, YOU will be responsible!!! The only salvation is through the acceptance of the cause and evangelizing it to the non-believers. Fight and renounce anybody who is not receptive to the righteous explanation.
Destroy dissenters who think that it is not a problem or that it may have other causes than CO2.
Crucify those who advocate adaptation instead of control. If you do not comply, you are responsible for the Armageddon.
Covid
It came from a bat, a pangolin, through a wet market, definitely NOT from a US financed illegal bio-weapon lab. It has no cure, no prevention, no cheap or repurposed medication or natural remedy. You should lock yourself into a little box and hope that you will not die. F*** grandma, let her die alone, but if you will see her, you will be responsible for her death. You can only be saved by the vaccine. If you do not comply with the ridiculous rules and restrictions, you are a murderer. The vaccines (redefined to include genetic modifications as well) will work. They are safe and effective. They may be neither, but you should still take it because they are better than the alternatives. If you do not comply with everything we ask, you ARE responsible for the spread of the disease and the potential extinction of humanity.
Ukraine
Putin is evil, the war was unprovoked and it is our moral duty to help the Ukrainians. The 2014 regime change was NOT a CIA orchestrated coup by groups of actual, self-declared fascists, but a righteous revolution of a people yearning for democracy.
No cost is too high to support them. There can be no negotiations, the only acceptable outcome is for the Russia to surrender and withdraw from the Crimea as well.
And, of course, for Putin to roll over and die.
No lives lost are too many to achieve this goal. If you question this narrative and advocate for peace negotiations, then you are a Russian spy, a Putin apologist and an enemy of democracy. Not even the threat of nuclear annihilation should stop us from doing what is right.
If you disagree, you are worse than the enemy.
The scripts for identity politics, racism, AI, etc. are very similar. You are guilty by definition and your only salvation is embracing the cause and the narrative.
The messages are very powerful and accepting them is very rewarding. They give you a sense of moral superiority and righteous satisfaction while it is freeing you from the responsibility of actually thinking about the problems. Â
What I realized reading
’s book excerpt is the importance of the power of the compliant. The Karens and the warriors of the fake causes. Without their virtue signaling righteous stupidity, none of these phony narratives could stay alive.This is politics, and it has serious and deadly effects. The Karens are not harmless, they are the enablers of the authoritarians.
In my next two posts, I will return to this subject with some very personal examples.
Like everything else on Substack, this is a reader supported publication.
You can help it by following or subscribing.
You can engage with it by clicking on like and/or commenting.
A ‘like’ costs nothing and is worth a lot.
You can help this Stack grow by sharing, recommending, quoting or referencing it.
You can support it by pledging your financial support.
Any and all of it will be much appreciated.
More from here
That's actually quite a good point. The performative aspect of virtue-signaling is a demonstration of submission to the cultural authority. The more extreme and unstable the cultural authority, the more that virtue-signaling will be performed in attempts to stabilize it. The prevalence of virtue-signaling in modern society clearly demonstrates a deep-rooted instability in its culture. People who are confident do not need to submit to the cultural authority or prove their loyalty.
Thanks for the links to various books. I do book reviews on my substack. You may be interested in reading (or maybe re-stacking?) articles I recently completed on The Ecotechnic Future and Breaking Together as they're both closely related to the Eco-Fascist book you highlighted.