4 ms·

Counterpoint; we are in a downwards-facing economy with war on our doorstep at eastern and western fronts. Companies have less money to spend on virtue signalli

Counterpoint; we are in a downwards-facing economy with war on our doorstep at eastern and western fronts. Companies have less money to spend on virtue signalling, governments are less discriminate about the results they want, and individuals have higher priorities than expressing uniqueness online. "Woke" is a byproduct of the entire political spectrum being steeped in it's own head-up-ass echo chambers, leading to QAnon and queer marketing strategy respectively. America is pretty much guaranteed to return to a woke status-quo if we're sold enough luxury goods and convince ourselves that everything is fine again. Wokeness is the masturbatory pattern of self-assurance that both the left and right rely on to convince themselves they have absolute control over an irreconcilably apolitical reality.

JoeAltmaier 2y ago
Or it's simple empathy. Folks are fond of denying it's existence these days, which simply marks the speaker as fond of ranting, addicted to the outrage culture so popular these days. Don't like the word? OK use another one. But to tout hatred-of-the-other as some kind of natural normal efficient state is preposterous and ignorant.
- talldayo 2y ago
  It's not empathy. Gay people (myself included) don't feel "empathized with" when we see gay people reflected in modern advertising. We feel targeted, and rightfully so - people are preying on the unintelligent reactionary masses that empathize with or want to empathize with queer identity. It is fully and wholly virtue signalling - queer media was better when it was an underground identity! At least then the concept wasn't being abused for brownie points by C-suite executives that profit off the manipulation of their audience. On the flip side, the wanton "wokeness" of the right is equally abusive. Right wing grandstanders say exactly what their party wants to hear, absolve themselves of responsibility ("oh i'm anonymous" or "i don't believe this but it's my right to say it"), and then get thousands of unironic adherents that fully believe in their hyperbolic attention-seeking. It's the exact same mechanism on either side of the aisle, jerking off precisely the same insecurities for almost exactly the same reason. At some indeterminate point in the future, all Americans will end up being conservative. Not because it's the right choice, but because the way politics are headed nobody will be encouraged to think outside marketing and empty platitudes. We already spend more time defending our echo chambers than we spend engaging with policy.
  - cdelsolar 2y ago
    I will never be a conservative.
    - talldayo 2y ago
      "never" is a conservative word.
      - jrflowers 2y ago
        I like this sentence because it is gibberish. One could similarly say “Forbes is a raucous breakfast” in a solemn tone and accomplish an equal amount of meaning
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - ta1243 2y ago
      You may be a progressive liberal aged 20, but with your views not even changing you will be a moderate conservative aged 60. Even if you become more liberal as time passes, no doubt your historical comments will show you up to "be conservative"
      - cdelsolar 2y ago
        I am 40, but you're partially right, I may have been slightly more left in my early 20s.
  - standardUser 2y ago
    Grown gay men and the queer youth of today are not the same people. Look at the trends of gender and sexual identity of the under-30s. Look at trends in religious activity. Society continues to move inexorably in one direction and the direction is not conservatism.
  - ProfessorLayton 2y ago
    >Gay people (myself included) don't feel "empathized with" when we see gay people reflected in modern advertising. We feel targeted, and rightfully so - people are preying on the unintelligent reactionary masses that empathize with or want to empathize with queer identity. Speak for yourself. Some people just want to see themselves represented in media (Advertising or otherwise) just like the rest of the population. Even if it's just for their money, it's still better than being swept under the rug and forgotten about. >queer media was better when it was an underground identity! There's still plenty of great underground queer media, and it's also great to see some of it go mainstream.
caseyy 2y ago
Perhaps virtue-signalling is recognised more in society now. I and people around me have developed an eye for performative outrage, posturing, and politics in the last several years. The hurting ego is often thinly veiled by grandstanding and incendiary language. You give the person what they need — security, community, direction; and their 500 grievances previously lodged in every direction suddenly disappear. Unfortunately, this is rarely what these people get. There are many others willing to take advantage of their rage, too.

JoeAltmaier 2y ago

Or it's simple empathy. Folks are fond of denying it's existence these days, which simply marks the speaker as fond of ranting, addicted to the outrage culture so popular these days. Don't like the word? OK use another one. But to tout hatred-of-the-other as some kind of natural normal efficient state is preposterous and ignorant.

talldayo 2y ago
It's not empathy. Gay people (myself included) don't feel "empathized with" when we see gay people reflected in modern advertising. We feel targeted, and rightfully so - people are preying on the unintelligent reactionary masses that empathize with or want to empathize with queer identity. It is fully and wholly virtue signalling - queer media was better when it was an underground identity! At least then the concept wasn't being abused for brownie points by C-suite executives that profit off the manipulation of their audience. On the flip side, the wanton "wokeness" of the right is equally abusive. Right wing grandstanders say exactly what their party wants to hear, absolve themselves of responsibility ("oh i'm anonymous" or "i don't believe this but it's my right to say it"), and then get thousands of unironic adherents that fully believe in their hyperbolic attention-seeking. It's the exact same mechanism on either side of the aisle, jerking off precisely the same insecurities for almost exactly the same reason. At some indeterminate point in the future, all Americans will end up being conservative. Not because it's the right choice, but because the way politics are headed nobody will be encouraged to think outside marketing and empty platitudes. We already spend more time defending our echo chambers than we spend engaging with policy.
- cdelsolar 2y ago
  I will never be a conservative.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    "never" is a conservative word.
    - jrflowers 2y ago
      I like this sentence because it is gibberish. One could similarly say “Forbes is a raucous breakfast” in a solemn tone and accomplish an equal amount of meaning
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - ta1243 2y ago
    You may be a progressive liberal aged 20, but with your views not even changing you will be a moderate conservative aged 60. Even if you become more liberal as time passes, no doubt your historical comments will show you up to "be conservative"
    - cdelsolar 2y ago
      I am 40, but you're partially right, I may have been slightly more left in my early 20s.
- standardUser 2y ago
  Grown gay men and the queer youth of today are not the same people. Look at the trends of gender and sexual identity of the under-30s. Look at trends in religious activity. Society continues to move inexorably in one direction and the direction is not conservatism.
- ProfessorLayton 2y ago
  >Gay people (myself included) don't feel "empathized with" when we see gay people reflected in modern advertising. We feel targeted, and rightfully so - people are preying on the unintelligent reactionary masses that empathize with or want to empathize with queer identity. Speak for yourself. Some people just want to see themselves represented in media (Advertising or otherwise) just like the rest of the population. Even if it's just for their money, it's still better than being swept under the rug and forgotten about. >queer media was better when it was an underground identity! There's still plenty of great underground queer media, and it's also great to see some of it go mainstream.

caseyy 2y ago

Perhaps virtue-signalling is recognised more in society now. I and people around me have developed an eye for performative outrage, posturing, and politics in the last several years. The hurting ego is often thinly veiled by grandstanding and incendiary language. You give the person what they need — security, community, direction; and their 500 grievances previously lodged in every direction suddenly disappear. Unfortunately, this is rarely what these people get. There are many others willing to take advantage of their rage, too.