Virtue Signaling Isn't Virtuous

Why the Left Will Never Stop Virtue Signaling

"As I said in my previous article, these virtue signals are a deadly game to play, and it's made more disgusting by the fact that the first people usually victimized by virtue signaling are the innocent. Namely, the poor, whom the left claims to champion but never actually does. "

This should pretty much cover it all

. . . "As I highlight in that quote, the backbone of virtue signaling is peer recognition. 

"Virtue signaling serves a lot of purposes. Seducing the ignorant is, of course, a large part of that. Making someone who doesn't know any better believe you have a moral high ground that you actually don't can make them put a bit of trust in you that you don't actually deserve. Pretending to be virtuous by using nebulous phrases and buzzwords is a time-honored tradition of the left, and too often the right. 

"But for the left, virtue signaling is a baked-in part of the culture. You must express virtues to be accepted. Failure to do so could result in you being sidelined at best, made an enemy at worst. It doesn't matter if you actually believe these things or not; you just have to be willing to profess them. A solid example of this in recent history is the left's profession that women's rights are holy, but this goes out the window the moment a man in a dress and makeup shows up. 

"You can see these examples in almost every facet of society and nearly every subculture." . . . 

—and Actually Makes Political Tribalism Worse

"But useful though it may be, virtue signaling is far less demanding, and far less constructive, than virtue itself. Unless the former is matched with the latter – that is, unless words are matched with actions – mere signaling is insufficient."