This is a fascinating piece from the redoubtable Megan McArdle, who manages to bring a touch of balance to Michael Bloomberg's normally liberal business website.
"See this man. He is armed. He will protect his family. He is a better person. See that man instead. He grovels at the feet of criminals. He doesn't do his part. He doesn't protect his family. He doesn't help protect you too. He is not such a good person. Be armed. Do your part. Help everyone and not just yourself."
"See this woman. She was raped. She feels bad. She wasn't armed. She couldn't fight back. See these politicians, Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton. They are happy. They like women to not be armed. Do you feel good about that? Do you want to be armed instead? Will you be a good person who can fight back?"
Yeah, I know the last bit was a bit ham-handed, but hey. I'm winging it to make my point. Do you see now why virtue signaling is a powerful tool in the hands of real people and not just giant phonies on the left?
The hard leftists love the Big Lie technique. Adolf Hitler was the original hard leftist. We, on the other hand, can employ the Big Truth technique. We can speak truth to power, and because truth always sounds more real than lies, the truth has a fighting chance to win. Sheer repetition counts. Say it, and say it, and say it again. Simple, clear words speak with the sound of thunder.
Posting a jeremiad on hypocrisy in food choices for diners may seem off balance for a gun-rights forum, but bear with me on this. The leftists hammer relentlessly on their message that "good" people abhor guns while "bad" people bitterly cling to them. The peculiar phenomenon of pretending to support "natural" foodstuffs in pursuit of the vague idea of huggling Mother Earth is just another exhibition of the amazingly common if perhaps morally degenerate practice of virtue-signaling. Ignoring or dismissing this practice is a mistake. Freedom-minded individuals would do well to fight back in kind. I will illustrate with simple passages from a hypothetical script for a short film meant to go viral on the Intertubes.
"See this man. He is armed. He will protect his family. He is a better person. See that man instead. He grovels at the feet of criminals. He doesn't do his part. He doesn't protect his family. He doesn't help protect you too. He is not such a good person. Be armed. Do your part. Help everyone and not just yourself."
"See this woman. She was raped. She feels bad. She wasn't armed. She couldn't fight back. See these politicians, Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton. They are happy. They like women to not be armed. Do you feel good about that? Do you want to be armed instead? Will you be a good person who can fight back?"
Yeah, I know the last bit was a bit ham-handed, but hey. I'm winging it to make my point. Do you see now why virtue signaling is a powerful tool in the hands of real people and not just giant phonies on the left?
The hard leftists love the Big Lie technique. Adolf Hitler was the original hard leftist. We, on the other hand, can employ the Big Truth technique. We can speak truth to power, and because truth always sounds more real than lies, the truth has a fighting chance to win. Sheer repetition counts. Say it, and say it, and say it again. Simple, clear words speak with the sound of thunder.