MORAL GRANDSTANDING - SPONSORED BY EGO THE UNSTOPPABLE RISE OF VIRTUE SIGNALLING
BY CHANDRI PERIS
Isn’t it amazing to know that almost everyone who is actively using social media is so good, kind and virtuous? Many of those who are addicted to scrolling on their phones, publicise their yearning for social justice so incessantly that you wonder if they’d ever rest until their desired version of justice is served. To my mind this brand of selective justice often publicised with much fanfare is often a result of having been brainwashed by a select band of people that some individuals hang out with or it has been a gradual accumulation of viewpoints by those with dogmatic and intransigent hearts which have hardened their opinions because of some significant trauma they have experienced in their past, or they are simply virtue signalling because of a desperate need to be seen as morally superior. The latter is undeniable in relation to some of those whom I have observed. Their particular brand of personalised social justice has no place for any compromise, open discussion or an alternative point of view. And what is most noticeable is that their ‘moral crusades’ never really takes into consideration those who are actually affected by an issue whether it be international conflicts, political scandals or personal tragedies. This becomes evident when you realise that they stoop to creating their own stories by reposting doctored images and using reels that are generated by artificial intelligence just so that they can support their own narratives.
Once they judge something they have not even witnessed or adopt a political stance as a display of supposed compassion, their urge to promote their own version of the truth in pursuit of a desired outcome becomes an obsession. What irks me most is that many of these ‘moral exhibitionists’ have dubious pasts, abhorrent character traits and personal lives that are falling apart at the seams. Yet they continue to post their unsolicited opinions about everything on social media more as a form of attention seeking than anything else.
An old Tamil man based in Australia keeps posting his own version of every ongoing conflict in the world. It became apparent to me that no one was commenting on his posts or even bothering to give them a thumbs up. I couldn’t resist messaging him and asking him why he needs to repost everything that is common knowledge. He politely responded to me to say that he has the ability to decipher what is fake and what is not and that he was doing this to inform his friends about the truth! That’s fine I thought! But interspersed between his numerous posts were images of young girls that verged on being pornographic. It was obvious to anyone who viewed these images of girls with huge milky white breast straining against their tight choli blouses, that they were airbrushed, doctored and enhanced by AI. I contacted him again and asked him if it hadn’t dawned on him that these images were fake. I was curtly informed that I was not a person who knew how to appreciate the beauty of Tamil girls of which he was a connoisseur! Blocking this person’s feed was the most peaceful solution to dealing with the problem of having artificially enhanced tits shoved in my face every time I opened my Facebook page!
Selecting pieces of fake news to make a case seems to have become normalised in the online world. There is a growing tendency of being ostracised by some of these delusional people if you tend to disagree with their views. For instance, there seems to be a huge hype about a particular performance by an actor that ‘they’ hold in high esteem.
I have seen a post shared numerous times on FB with the strap line ‘It’s a hit, It’s a hit, it’s a palpable hit’ citing a recent production of ‘Hamlet’ at the National Theatre. Believe me when I say that in my 38 years in London, I have seen over 36 productions of this same play, and this particular version was by far the worst. It was ‘shit!’ No matter how many times the NT themselves plastered this link on social media many people who saw this production of Hamlet will seriously reconsider sitting through another Shakespeare play for the rest of their lives. The resounding and polite silence from every Sri Lankan who had seen it at the theatre does not seem to be evidence enough, therefore the know-it-all’s keep brandishing their brand of the truth until many who associate with this actor and his performances by hearsay, drown in a sea of falsehoods. Such is the power of disinformation.
The BBC ran a hard-hitting documentary titled ‘The Zero Line – inside Russia’s war’ about the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine. Much as I dislike this particularly woke institution; this documentary highlighted the horrors faced by young soldiers who are being forced into a war that was not of their making. A woke scold, who considers Putin to be the solution to all of the world’s problems, dismissed this documentary as anti-Russian propaganda promoted by the west. He continues to create his own brand of truth by selecting snippets of news from this very same programme provider as and when it suits his narrative. His ongoing anti-establishment paranoia provokes him to keep posting his diatribe of FB. Thankfully, many of us who are perfectly capable of making up our own minds continue to stay silent.
The conflict in Gaza seems to have brought out droves of keyboard warriors who comment on everything about this deeply complex conflict. One such zealot was incensed by the illegal land grab made by Israeli settlers! That’s fair enough. But this very same person and his family inhabited a house in Colombo for over 22 years without paying a cent to the landlord and then demanded that this landlord pay them a million rupees for every year that they had lived in this house until they agreed to leave. This prig has the guts to broadcast his morals to the world while having forced a kind landlord to the verge of bankruptcy. This shameless person uses his online presence as a platform to air his views and spread his opinions among his followers while a few of us can only hope that the truth will out. Hopefully it will!
Social media has given credence to those who want to make their own truths about the world they live in, thus making it more dangerous than it actually is. For example, a con artist broadcasts how she weeps whenever she sees a badly embroidered piece of tourist that she acquired on a visit to the Holy Land, she also wants to ban anyone from Israel from entering Sri Lanka and her reason for this is none other than her blatant antisemitism. If her hatred is aimed at the government of Israel, she should make it evident instead of damning an entire race. People like this inhabit a world of fibs and fantasies and their compassion which they make visible is often a shield to cover up their own insecurities. Their hate filled posts are what ultimately result in the sort of massacre that took place on Bondi Beach and will occur in many other places in the future too
Facebook which was initially created to ‘help students connect and interact online’ then progressed to becoming a platform used around the world to ‘bring people and communities together’. Today its saturated with hatred, opinions, arguments and a whole lot of fake news posted by these moralizers who are addicted to their activism specifically as a demonstration of their empathy in relation to causes beyond their control.
Thankfully there are those who still use it for the purpose it was meant for. Pictures of significant birthdays, school reunions, friends having a good time, holiday photographs, reels of shows and performances etc are most welcome especially by those who may not have the chance to attend such events. Snapshots that remind us of the dear departed trigger our emotions about the good old days. The nostalgia in itself creates a warmth and a longing for a less troublesome time when friends and family had the decency to discuss and even amicably disagree on any issue.
One must admit that the natural progression of a platform built for sharing information will ultimately be hijacked by people who want to highlight a cause of some sort, and I will be the first to applaud anyone who uses it so solve or prevent a crisis that they can control especially if it in the country that they live in. But the run up to the American election showed us all to starkly that even megastars like Meryl Streep, George Clooney and Robert de Niro couldn’t steer its outcome. What does so many of these do-gooders think they can accomplish by posting so much hate online? They will only end up fracturing their own communities from within.
That said, none of us can prevent the grandstanding that seems innocent but is fake and boastful at its core. After the events of 7 October 2023, a certain woman who claims to have worked internationally put out a post saying, ‘if anyone knows how I can go and volunteer in Palestine please inbox me’. Years later, she is still being quite the social butterfly desperately trying to be noticed. Another person films himself walking to work and posts it for his many followers to see. His post is not a celebration of exercise or an effort to save the environment – it’s just to show that he is working in an exotic location other than Sri Lanka. What does one gain by wishing a very close family member on a public platform? Wouldn’t it be more personal if you called them directly instead of plastering a picture and making a public spectacle of a birthday wish? And what is it with a husband posting some nonsense and the wife commenting on it - albeit from another room in the house? All of this seems to be a cri de coeur for attention.
Anxiety, depression and the addictive nature of social media has triggered many governments around the world to ban its use by those under the age of sixteen. Likewise, responsible adults should think and think again about the repercussion of the opinions, the hatreds and the falsehoods they post. Glass houses and stones spring to mind!
