Virtue-Signaling and Vice-Signaling in the Age of MAGA

This past Friday, I wrote a little piece about the perfectly legitimate animus toward the Nazi Elon Musk spilling over into animus toward decent people who own Teslas for various kind-hearted reasons aimed at helping the common good. I suggested charity toward such people since lots of people don’t follow the news and, particularly when it comes older models of Tesla (not so much the Swasticar), lots of people just got one cuz they were trying to reduce fossil emissions. In places like, oh, I don’t know, Seattle, where electricity is overwhelmingly hydroelectric, owning an EV is a smart, civic-minded move and people who invested in such cars were, overwhelmingly, trying to do the right thing, not support the Nazi.

The curious thing about all this is that, as the MAGA Cult has whipsawed from lie to lie in order to keep up with whatever Personal Truth of the Moment Trump and the Right Wing Lie Machine sell them from day to day, one of the most spectacular lies has been the sudden reversal of the Tyrant on EVs (at least EVs made by his Number One donor, Nazi Elon Musk). All of a sudden, the Cult is passionately supportive, as the Orange Messiah instructs them to be, even to the point of suggesting boycotts of Tesla are illegal.

But, of course, because 1) they utterly lack a capacity for empathy for anyone who is not the Self and those who constitute extensions of their ego, and 2) they always use accusation as confession of their own hearts of darkness, the Cult cannot imagine somebody doing something right simply because it’s right. Like the demonic Uncle Screwtape–who complains, “Everything has to be twisted before it’s any use to us. We fight under cruel disadvantages. Nothing is naturally on our side.”–the MAGA Cult likewise complains that people with a sense of principle are harder to beat because they tell the truth:

In the transactional, zero-sum, satanic world of MAGA antichrist religion, it is simply unimaginable to the Cultist that somebody could act out of love of neighbor, much less love of God. Again, the logic of MAGA, maps very closely to that of Uncle Screwtape, who racks his fallen mind as he strives with might and main to not see what he will not see:

All His talk about Love must be a disguise for something else—He must have some real motive for creating them and taking so much trouble about them. The reason one comes to talk as if He really had this impossible Love is our utter failure to find out that real motive. What does He stand to make out of them? That is the insoluble question. I do not see that it can do any harm to tell you that this very problem was a chief cause of Our Father’s quarrel with the Enemy. When the creation of man was first mooted and when, even at that stage, the Enemy freely confessed that he foresaw a certain episode about a cross, Our Father very naturally sought an interview and asked for an explanation. The Enemy gave no reply except to produce the cock-and-bull story about disinterested love which He has been circulating ever since. This Our Father naturally could not accept. He implored the Enemy to lay His cards on the table, and gave Him every opportunity. He admitted that he felt a real anxiety to know the secret; the Enemy replied “I wish with all my heart that you did”. It was, I imagine, at this stage in the interview that Our Father’s disgust at such an unprovoked lack of confidence caused him to remove himself an infinite distance from the Presence with a suddenness which has given rise to the ridiculous enemy story that he was forcibly thrown out of Heaven. Since then, we have begun to see why our Oppressor was so secretive. His throne depends on the secret. Members of His faction have frequently admitted that if ever we came to understand what He means by Love, the war would be over and we should re-enter Heaven. And there lies the great task. We know that He cannot really love: nobody can: it doesn’t make sense. If we could only find out what He is really up to! Hypothesis after hypothesis has been tried, and still we can’t find out. Yet we must never lose hope; more and more complicated theories, fuller and fuller collections of data, richer rewards for researchers who make progress, more and more terrible punishments for those who fail—all this, pursued and accelerated to the very end of time, cannot, surely, fail to succeed.

One of the consequences of this embrace of the Lie and the rejection of love is that, for the MAGA Cult, all attempts at virtue are instantly denounced as “virtue-signaling”.

Now Jesus, of course, has a lot to say about virtue-signaling, none of it good:

“Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

“Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Mt 6:1–6, 16-18)

But here’s the thing: Merely doing the right thing is not virtue-signaling. Doing it in order to gain human applause is virtue-signaling. How do I know, cuz Jesus also said:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Mt 5:14–16)

None of which matters to the MAGA Cult where accusation is always confession. So when confronted by somebody who acted out of principle in buying a Tesla and who is now acting out of an even higher principle in getting rid of it, the Cult sees only its own cynical face in the mirror:

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D) says he’s looking for a “new ride” and is going to get rid of his Tesla, which he says was “built and designed by an a‑‑hole.”

“I’m here in Washington driving to work for the last time in my Tesla,” Kelly said in a video posted on the social platform X. “When I bought this thing, I didn’t think it was going to become a political issue.

“Every time I get in this car in the last 60 days or so, it reminds me of just how much Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country. Talking about slashing Social Security, cutting health care benefits for poor people, for seniors. It’s one bad thing after the next,” he said of Musk’s actions as the lead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Now, there are a few interesting things to note about Senator Kelly and his unhappiness with his Tesla.

First, what you see here is an example of the Democrats’ newfound fondness for swearing in public.  I don’t know if they are trying to shore up their losses among younger voters this past fall by trying to be cool, or if they are trying to compensate for what they think is the feminizing effect of their participation in the whole trans cult, or what it is.  I do know that they’re dropping f-bombs, and s-words, and a-holes all over the place the past few weeks.  And it’s getting pretty cringe.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m no delicate flower or stickler for etiquette.  I just think that it’s weird.  Really, really weird.  I mean…who are they trying to impress, exactly?

The second thing to note here is that Mark Kelly is a hack.  He bought his Tesla for political reasons – to virtue signal his dedication to the environment or whatever – and he’s selling it for political reasons.  Guess what, Senator?  No one cares.  Most people buy cars based on necessity.  They choose what is best, most practical, and most affordable for their families.  Sometimes – for those lucky enough to afford such luxuries – people buy cars for other reasons, thrills, looks, nostalgia, etc.  The only people who buy and sell cars for political purposes are truly spoiled brats elites.  If you’re selling your car to make a political statement, then one thing is clear: you are waaaaay too in to politics.

A third interesting thing about the whole rebellion against Tesla is that it is animated by a variant of Trump Derangement Syndrome.  The people who are screaming, hollering, and swearing about Tesla are doing so because they hate Donald Trump.  They may say it’s because they hate Elon Musk, but Musk has been an oddball and an acquired taste (at best) for a long, long time.  Teslas were still popular, and Tesla dealerships were still safe places to work.  That only changed after Musk affiliated himself with Trump.  Trump Derangement Syndrome ruins everything – including, now, cars.

Here’s thing: It’s not virtue-signaling to do the right thing. It’s virtue-signaling to do the right for the wrong reason. I see no evidence that Kelly is doing something for the wrong reason. I see lots of evidence that he is letting his light shine before men as he is supposed to do.

On the other hand, there is also another phenomenon that is endemic in the Cult that they never discuss: vice-signaling. This when you do the evil thing for evil reasons, because you think it makes you look like a badass to your fellow assholes. This is the bread and butter of MAGA culture.

The constant theme of this Cult is a relish for cruelty–especially cruelty to the weak.

Virtue-signaling is, comparatively speaking, a venial sin. Indeed, it is a strangely humble sin. It is committed by people who retain enough humanity to care deeply what people think of them.

But vice-signaling? That is straight from Hell and rooted in pride, cruelty, and contempt for the humanity of its victims. And this, again and again, is what the Cult does.