In today’s world, the concept of virtue has often been diluted into a mere outward display, devoid of genuine substance. Some individuals, driven by a desire to project an image of righteousness, engage in actions that ultimately cause more harm than good. On the other hand, others equate virtue with abstract beliefs that hold little practical value in the real world.
An internet user recently asked What people believe makes them virtuous but in reality means nothing? The responses below were genuinely thought-provoking!
Ability To Function On ‘No Sleep’
“Functioning on no sleep.” Said one.
“Neil deGrasse Tyson once proudly said in an interview that he operates regularly on only 4-5 hours of sleep, and now I can’t see it in any of his other interviews. Snappiness, abruptness, impatience, etc., etc, let alone the bags under his eyes.” Another added.
Not Taking Leaves
“Never miss a day of work. Not only is there nothing wrong with taking a personal or sick day, but odds are also you care way more than your employer does.” Said one.
“Not missing work or school doesn’t mean you don’t get sick; it means you still show up when you are sick, which is a far cry from something to brag about.” Another added.
Changing Facebook DPs For A Mass Movement
“Changing their profile picture on Facebook to show their support of whatever current event.” Said one.
“The funniest one I saw was during the “change your profile picture to a cartoon to support awareness of child abuse.” A friend changed his profile picture to Homer choking Bart.” Another added.
Status and Position
“Status and position.
“But he’s a cop”
“But she’s an executive.”
“But they’re a judge.”
My filter is that status rarely equals virtue.” Said one.
“Status and position are mostly negatively correlated. High-status people are the most capable and responsible for all of the worst things in history/the present.” Another added.
Charity For The Sake Of Social Media
“Giving food to people on the street and recording it for social media.” Said one.
“This needed to be said. I would even go one step further and say doing any random acts of kindness or charity and posting about it on social media…it’s all virtue-signaling crap. There isn’t anything as classy as doing something nice for someone and not saying a word about it” Another added.
Being Too Blunt
“I’m a straight talker… I tell it how it is.”
No… you’re just a jerk.” Said one.
“Yeah, many people who are “brutally honest” have the interesting tendency of leaning more on brutality than honesty.” Another added.
Fearing God
“God-fearing” doesn’t make you a good person or make good choices, it just makes you fearful of the vengeance from the deity you pray to.” Said one.
“Yeah, they’re pretty much admitting they act civil because they fear the consequences.” Another added.
Southern Hospitality
“I’m from the southern US, and one thing I can’t stand is that “southern hospitality”.
I’ve lived here my whole life; wanna know a secret? That thing is fake. I can’t tell you how often I watched someone be polite and friendly to someone turn around and say nasty terrible things behind their back. How many people put on this kind of persona, but if you dig deeper, they are terrible people?
“Down here, we are polite; we watch our manners and welcome everybody.”
No, you don’t; you pretend to make yourself look better. It’s selfish. I’d rather have a grumpy-looking person grunt at me when I bump into them. It may seem not nice, but at least it’s genuine. Down here, it’s like some horror movie of overly nice smiling creeps.”
Being A Member Of A Religious Group
“Being a member of a religious group.” Said one.
“My parents always looked down upon people who didn’t attend Church. The fallacy of, “good Christian people”.” Another added.
‘Mandatory’ Volunteers
“Being generous with other people’s time/money. You’re not a “good person” because you want to help person A, by forcing person B to do it. Why don’t *YOU* help person A?
Like those “mandatory volunteer” things some schools have now. First of all, that’s an oxymoron. If it’s mandatory, it’s not ‘volunteer’ (voluntary). But secondly, it’s not virtuous to do it. They’re only doing it because you’re forcing them to.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.