We're all aware of how virtue signaling has taken over America. Much of it is driven by young leftist women, and effeminate men, and that social media has provide the fertile ground for it to become a driving force in American culture. Reddit and similar sites are little more than competitions for virtue signaling.
But now that virtue signaling has become pervasive, we need to acknowledge that Virtue Economy has sprouted up, and that countless people have become dependent upon it. It is not unlike any economy in the world, in the sense that it has become intertwined into people's lives, not just emotionally, but in terms of real world dollars. It is a burgeoning cottage industry.
Which has made this phenomenon incredibly dangerous. What started with catwomen bitching and moaning on Facebook, has taken on a life of its own. And those same dour fat women, and their effeminate male counterparts, now view themselves as part of an alternative economy. Many of them derive their income from donations, which has created a Perfect Storm where dumb losers like Shaun King and Tariq Nasheed depend on furthering hatred just to make rent.
Remember that. This isn't about actual virtue for 95% of these idiots. This is their job, because they can't do anything else. And if you threaten their livelihood...they will attack you. It has nothing to do with race. They're just unskilled opportunists who are exploiting everyone around them.
That's exactly what I'm saying. We used to complain that they were deriving non-monetary value, but now there's literal cash flow.
I see where you're going, and I agree that it's very pernicious, but for every idiot streamer making money, there are 10,000 young Leftist women on Facebook cutting their teeth on getting a dopamine hit by virtue signaling. They don't even have to make a nickel on the Virtue Economy to respond violently to any threat which might end that absurd and bankrupt economy. My point is simply that leftists all participate in this Virtue Economy, and that they respond like violent lunatics toward whomever would threaten said economy.
The bottom line is that, despite being one of the early architects of the web in the 90s in Silicon Valley, I now fully believe that Social Media has created the conditions for an ever-spiraling Virtue Economy which is tearing our nation apart. Black people on the one hand are livestreaming their crimes, while young white women are competing with each other on how "woke" they can be.
Nothing good has come from it, and it is spiraling out of control. And it won't get better, simply by virtue of its character -- because it is a full-blown economy, upon which people depend. Only instead of running on currency, this economy runs on projected virtue. This is the shit that we need to acknowledge and be concerned about.
I get you, and I read all that, and I appreciate you replying in depth. It's really that intertwining that you so accurately describe that I have an issue with.
Actually, that's not true. I have an issue with a network which encourages such intertwining, groupthink, and censorship.
Honestly, I think Social Media has recreated the Tower of Babel parable, and I'm not entirely sure how it gets unfucked.
I used to be a big proponent of technology, specifically as a means with which to Democratize the world. But then I was quickly reminded that corporations will intercept and interfere. And now I see it all as pointless. And while it's not just about monetization that has ruined the web, I would tend to agree that some kind of Web revolution is necessary.
The Internet has become one big proxy war for Identity Politicians. That has to stop.