Is virtue signaling an actual thing that people are capable of doing

it definitely depends on the context. I've watched my neighborhood go from nice but affordable to totally unattainable. There's been virtually no new construction anywhere nearby during that time. The people with these signs in their yards here are not riding their bikes to the co-op, no one is riding bikes anywhere. They are all just a bunch of rich assholes regardless of their politics.

The pride flag expresses solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. It is the noble banner of an ongoing civil rights struggle.

The “in this household” sign expresses sneering contempt for hypothetical conservatives who might read the sign but probably won’t because these signs only appear in deep blue suburbs.

Thinking of those signs springing up around the time of the 2017 Muslim Ban, it at least signals to neighbors that they aren't on the side of Trump. In the same way that American flags in fall 2020 felt like a substitute for Trump signs in the fancy neighborhoods I walked through during the lockdown.

trump signs signal contempt for people with the "in our household signs," which signal contempt for people with trump signs. it's just a loop of performative politics--or of people mistaking their political positions with their personalities.

i don't think these signs effectively signaled solitary with people at-risk of trump's policies if only because they fueled more trump signs and trump flags.

the trump flags are the ones i hate the most. why does he have his own flag?

Pride flags def used to bother me a lot, in certain contexts. I'd see a pride flag in some instances as a reminder that I should expect to be persecuted, that I needed a special invitation in order to feel welcome, and that the bearer was congratulating themself for extending to me that special invitation. I think I feel differently about it now, that seems like an ignorant way to have thought about it.

no that makes sense and is a good point

The "In This House" sign is from Madison, WI, which is indeed deep blue but is not a suburb

https://mashable.com/article/in-this-house-we-believe-black-lives-matter-kindness-is-everything-sign

everything between the hudson and mississippi is an outer suburb of new york to me.

what did i just signal with that quip?

why does he have his own flag?

it's a merchandising opportunity

xxpost new borad descript

I guess the gen x-er in me just finds any sort of "message" or political sign/flag around one's home to be like soooo lame man.

I don't want to be misconstrued as caping for these signs that are ugly as fuck and stupid, but one of the most reliable tropes about ilx is watching people make absolutely asinine assumptions about people's interior lives and thoughts based on a sample size of a grand total of one outdoor yard sign.

It's the equivalent of the dipshits that hear you reference one band, one time and spend the entire rest of their social interactions with you assuming you are said band's global #1 fan. Jesus, grant people a little more depth of thought for once in your lives.

Ugh. I already regret venting my frustration here, but that simple minded shit drives me nuts.

Notice that it's always negative assumptions that are made. I do it too (tho I'd like to think I scold myself upon reflection), it's like it's hardwired into the human mind.

this is a clearer example of the kind of thing i think some people were trying to get at (?)

This fucking country, man pic.twitter.com/e6KWztfVYU

— Michael Oswell (@_MichaelOswell_) August 30, 2021

stating the far too obvious the sign/flag thing absolutely depends on who is displaying it in what context

Agreed. For example, out on the road today I saw a BLM sticker on a Cadillac.

hippie-signalling? performative grooviness? is this anything

i can see you
your virtue signaling in the sun

I can tell you
My virtue will still be strong
After the affordable housing is gone

One time I saw an obviously wealthy boomer couple driving a black BMW SUV and the license plate said ZNFNDL

tipple signalling

IMDRNK would be a funny vanity plate

ILXOR

automatic police stop because they're drunk on their own posts

Facebook is basically like 3,000 of these lawn signs per day, on a variety of topics

my ban is up and while I have started posting here and there again, I barely read it at all. it's bliss.

^virtue-signaling

I don't even own a virtue

Suddenly flashing back to the early-2010s talking point that Occupy Wall Street was just guys acting like activists to “pick up chicks,” which seems like the start of some of this.

Do people think no one got laid at '60s rallies

I think I had a breakthrough today, when I observed that the term "virtue signaling" would never ever in a million years be applied to people who post on the internet about taking down elite pedophile cabals

It’s essentially missionary work. Humans follow patterns.

I can tell you
My virtue will still be strong
After the affordable housing is gone

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, August 31, 2021 1:36 PM (yesterday)

and this is why I love ILX

Facebook is basically like 3,000 of these lawn signs per day, on a variety of topics

― Duke Detain (Neanderthal), Tuesday, August 31, 2021 5:08 PM (yesterday)

yeah, that's along the lines of what I was trying to get at about "virtue signaling" being a subset of performativity. Like Facebook is 99.5% performativity and the rest is "what's the cheapest dentist" and "reliable Volvo mechanic?" But only some of that performativity is virtue signaling -- the 3000 lawn signs.

I'm more forgiving of those sorts of signs since it's better than the now apparently-acceptable alternative of being a proud fascist.

these signs only appear in deep blue suburbs.

uh no

see above

One time I saw an obviously wealthy boomer couple driving a black BMW SUV and the license plate said ZNFNDL

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

rejected "Boys of Summer" lyrics I have loved

Was also thinking - the ritualized land acknowledgments at meetings that go on to say nothing about indigenous people or their issues - like, who is this for? What is it doing?

― JoeStork, Tuesday, August 31, 2021 11:14 AM (yesterday)

otm! I was thinking about this the other day, actually. Like, "land acknowledgements" are inherently location-specific and context-specific. But what seems to have happened in practice, is that progressive groups in some regions have adopted it because "everyone else is doing it" and not really interrogating the specifics of the history of the indigenous peoples where they are vs. the initial colonialists, and subsequent conquests.

It reminds me of the George Floyd protests, where in Minneapolis, the protesters looted, smashed and burned a Target store. ... And then when the protests spread to other parts of the country, the protesters attacked Target stores, because that's what Minneapolis did. And I'm not saying this in the context of "damaging corporate property = bad" ... but in the tension/juxtaposition of the tendency of "property crime" in the context of protests being spontaneous and autonomous

https://mashable.com/article/in-this-house-we-believe-black-lives-matter-kindness-is-everything-sign

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, August 31, 2021 3:36 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

is this satire

requesting a dramatic adulatory mashable article about every single post in why do i hate that artist thing that people keep posting on my facebook so much? why am i such a jerk?

they are bad because they reduce politics to just things you believe inside of you and not things that are actually accomplished. that's why they can put signs about zoning issues next to them with no understanding why it's wrong. individually the phrases are very empty. like an oil company geologist and an environmental scientist can both believe "science is real." anti-maskers yell "follow the science" all the time. it isn't just hypocritical.

― criminally negligible (harbl), Tuesday, August 31, 2021 1:23 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

booming post

these things should be *performative* in the non-performative-wokeness sense of the word, they can be to some extent, they resonate, they do some work, for better and/or worse, despite/because whatever self-interest from various parties. fuck turning it all into just vibes and content and all that bullshit. most of these are solid values, i think, some of them as solid as you can get right now. if they're just for being put on up a wall somewhere as some kind of concession in lieu of the resourses necessary to actually back them up then they're bullshit and the people who believe in them should use every capacity to make them not bullshit

basically if or when virtue signalling works we can and should use it. because it's not great but it seems to do something

when it doesn't, or when it stops working, it's bullshit

Left and harbl otm

Like, this collective community center I've recently gotten involved in has meetings where at the beginning of the meeting we go around and state our preferred pronouns and say if we have accessibility needs. And sometimes it seems like ... hey, there are only 5 of us here, and we all know each other, and it feels kinda absurd, but you know, it's a good practice to have. Same with thanking everyone and expressing appreciation for emotional labor ... it's nice to feel thanked and appreciated.