“Everyone has their own problems. Everyone’s problems aren’t yours. Since you’re so concerned about everyone else’s problems why aren’t you out there saving the world instead of being here virtue signaling for attention?”
Usually my articles stem from some kind of conversation I see on twitter, which is probably not the healthiest way to take in human behavior but it is interesting to say the least. I have always seen Social Media as a peek into the inner workings of the human psyche. What we would say or do if we had the invincibility (usually) to just say how we actually feel about things without face to face social rules holding us back. The above quote is something I have been noticing for a long time now and it has started to grate with my personal beliefs a bit because it is so damn depressing to see expressed in the open like that.
What that quote displays is ocean trench deep concession to a sense of pessimism that I find particularly abhorrent. It is understandable, don’t get me wrong, but it is a way of just ceding ground to how rough and tough life can be and seeing anyone trying to at least act better as some form of hypocrite or bad faith actor. Funnily enough, it is pretty bad faith to assume everyone is acting in bad faith, hypocrisy for me not for thee I guess.
I tend to think that when we do things like that, there is this sense of moral grand standing the supposed moral grandstand-er. Virtue Signaling the Virtue Signal-ee. A reactionary reaction to the idea that people are inconsistent with their beliefs. You who decides to live by a moral code that you cannot possibly live up to, do not get to determine how other people live. People are inconsistent. Hypocrites. Everyone is. And because that is a truth, you do not get to stand on your high horse and tell me how to live my life.
People take the simple idea of humanity’s capacity to fuck up even when they mean well as a means to generalize the people around them instead of just acknowledging the imperfection as an aspect of humanity. There is no diving deeper into our behavior when we take such a reactionary course to our humanity. There’s no empathy, no understanding just a condemnation of humanity that shields one from any type of criticism or push to do better.
I get where it comes from. People can be disappointing. We often fail at living up to standards that others or even ourselves set. It is especially painful when those close to use fail us. Its painful when we see people around us hurt from hypocrisy. Unfortunately, we deal with the painful truths of humanity by stripping away the humanity of others and demonizing inconsistency as a biblical sin instead of allowing it to be who we are. To face it would mean taking a more nuanced and honestly healthier approach to how we deal with disappointment.
Sad thing is that calling out hypocrisy, even in bad faith, is a very effective way to argue. People see hypocrisy as lowest of lows and its hard to work around that as a claim. It makes the point being made irreverent. Colors the opposing speaker in a negative light, depriving them of any credibility. It is too good of a rhetorical technique. Which is why it gets lazily thrown out so much when people are being challenged on their lack of a moral standing. For something so natural to our being, hypocrisy is seen almost as foreign negative aspect of behavior. But that it is inherent in humanity, its a sin that allows for a more pessimistic look at humanity.
I would prefer to think of hypocrisy in a more neutral way. See our natural affinity for inconsistency as a thing that just exists within us that we can work on and get better at. To be honest, I have learned more from hypocrites than I have folks pretending not to be. When you look at our behavior in a more neutral way, you understand hypocrisy is something to be investigated and not just a means to dismiss. Sometimes hypocrisy is an attempt to be better or to show what needs to be done. It is a bit more earnest than we like to give credit for because it complicates our narrative that inconsistency is a moral failing. It is ultimately a case of people trying and failing to do better.
When hypocrisy is preceded by a sense of malice or negative intent, that is when you look at it with a raised eyebrow. Thing is, the moral failing isn’t the hypocrisy however. The moral failing is using our humanity as a means to justify wrongs and to situate yourselves on a higher plane despite that moral failing. Conflating that with general inconsistency is where we often go wrong and where I have my objection. We should always be questioning. Cynicism is good in moderation but to broad strokes that malicious hypocrisy on to every case is ceding ground to the worse aspects of ourselves that make us not want to do better when that is something we all can and should be doing.
Since plagiarism is such a big thing, I did use this article as a frame work and to expand my ideas. Shout out to them for basically saying the same thing I said here but I put my own unprofessional touch on and they have more specific examples of things so please give that 2008 Op-Ed a view.