#139 The Economics of Virtue Signaling

We’re all bad men. Some bad men have good policies, some bad men have bad policies, but the policy of virtue signaling is always “bad” economics.

 

Virtue signaling became popular during the waning days of Covid, when people would wear a mask as a way of indicating they were better than others.  One definition of virtue signaling is “A public act with very little associated cost that is intended to inform others of one’s socially acceptable behavior.” 

 

Christians should use ONE virtue signal: We identify as followers of Christ.  

In a recent article in the Epoch Times, Philip Carl Salzman wrote that “Woke’ Ideology Is the Way the Elite Says They’re Superior to You.”  He continued, “What do you think “virtue signaling” is about? The point of it is to claim superiority for the speaker, and inferiority for the listener. It means “I am a good person, and, if you do not agree with me enthusiastically, you are a bad person.”  When Hilary Clinton said that half of Trump voters were “a basket of deplorables”: she was saying, “They are bad people, very different from us, who are good people.”

Virtue signaling is a component of status competition. Those who aspire to power and fame will strive to be seen as having more virtue than others, and thus worthy of special esteem and status.  What a silly, junior high concept. 

In supplying demand, marketers rely heavily on virtue signaling. 

 

Curing Disease

Marketers take advantage of consumers’ “disease.”  Except it’s broken into two words: DIS EASE.  They try to tell consumers, “You have dis-ease, which can be cured by this car, or this dress, or this lipstick or this beer.”  It’s such a simple appeal, I’m surprised people still fall for it. 

Marketers know that consumers buy products to establish their identity.  That’s stupid.  Ginger likes to quote Dave Ramsey saying, “You borrow money to buy a car you can’t afford to impress people you don’t know.”  Meaning, those people you pass on the freeway.  Such is the strength of our fallen need to be better than others.  We want a better house and car, vacations, and education.  But Christians are supposed to find their identity in their relationship with Christ, not from their affiliation with a car or a perfume or wine.  Almost the entire luxury product industry exists as virtue-signaling.  While some luxury products deliver marginal increases in economic utility, most of the extra price is justified by status. 

This is the trick that the Democratic party is trying to foist on us this week, when President Biden claimed that MAGA Republicans are semi-fascist.  He was virtue-signaling the following message: If you want to be a GOOD person, come over to the democrat party.  Really?!  Democrats are good people?

A few words from Lance Morrow.  He authored the book titled God and Mammon, but don’t bother reading it.  There are some interesting details of political intrigue over his 50 years in Washington, but his publisher just slapped the title God and Mammon on the cover for some reason.  But here’s what he wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week: “Mr. Biden’s opinions have hardened into absolute faith that any party or political belief system except their own is illegitimate—impermissible, inhuman, monstrous and (a nice touch) a threat to democracy.” And then Mr. Morrow mentions the economic source of this idea, “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” Or against the party. (People forget, if they ever knew it,