Woke Virtue-Signaling

Yes, as a matter if fact, I DO care

HAPPY TO BE A CARING, COMPASSIONATE FORCE OF NATURE

Some rightwingers fling the clichéd term “virtue signaling” as if it were a bad thing. Personally, I am all in favor of virtue-signaling.

I love to see people making full-bodied expressions of how much they care and what they want to do to make the world a better place. It’s even fine with me if part of their motivation is the desire to be loved by the rest of us do-gooders.

So yes, please feel free to flaunt your virtue-signaling in front of me. I will applaud and appreciate. Maybe you talk the do-good talk 70% of the time and walk the do-good walk 30% of the time. In my eyes, that’s WAY preferable to those who walk the do-good walk 0% of the time.

Funny how the people who mock virtue-signaling never seem to worry they’re engaging in apathy-signaling or cruelty-signaling or I’m-afraid-of-my-own-heart signaling. The accusation itself is a kind of signal—a cynicism-signal, a “too-cool-to-care” signal that broadcasts moral disengagement as if it were sophistication.

And let’s not forget: What they dismiss as “virtue signaling” has always been how social change happens. Abolitionists were accused of the equivalent of virtue signaling. Suffragettes were accused of virtue signaling. Civil rights marchers were accused of virtue signaling.

The term changes but the reactionary impulse remains the same: belittling public expressions of conscience because those expressions might actually inspire action. And action is what terrifies the reactionaries most.

Because underneath the cynicism about “virtue signaling” is often terror of moral obligation. If we acknowledge that others are suffering and that we could help, we might actually have to do something. Better to preemptively mock anyone who cares, so we can preserve our comfortable numbness.

If for some reason anyone doesn’t like my own personal virtue-signaling, they have my authorization to go in search of people who prefer to engage in vice-signaling and selfishness-signaling and I’ve-got-mine-and-fuck-the-rest-of-you signaling.

The author of the prayer in the meme above is unknown. Art is by Michelle Possum Nungurrayi.

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And while we’re at it, let’s talk about the other term that some people spit on: woke. As if caring about other people were a moral pandemic. As if paying attention to injustice required hazmat gear. As if noticing suffering were a character flaw instead of a Bodhisattva trait.

Our understanding of history tells us that “woke” originated in Black activism as a call to awareness about systemic injustice. Its appropriation as a slur is itself a form of cultural erasure. When I reclaim it, I’m honoring that lineage.

And can we appreciate the absurdity of the slur-dispensers? They’ve turned consciousness itself into a pejorative. They deride the concept of being awake.

As if awareness were the disease and ignorance the cure. As if the problem with the world is that people are paying TOO MUCH attention to suffering.

What’s the alternative they’re proposing—aggressive unconsciousness? Militant obliviousness?

I long ago signed up to be deliriously, flamboyantly, unapologetically woke. I aspire to be so woke I need regular naps. I want to be so woke I register on seismic instruments. So woke I trigger alerts for runaway empathy.

Being woke means I’m committed to dismantling cruelty, listening to marginalized voices, helping refugees find safety, defending queer joy, and supporting people whose struggles don’t match or mirror my own.

And if anyone doesn’t like my woke-ness, I happily authorize them to go commune with people who prefer snooze-button consciousness and bigotry-drenched drowsiness.

Here’s the not-so-delicious irony: People who spend their energy mocking virtue-signalers and woke folks are actually engaging in their own form of ugly emotion signaling.

They imagine they’re announcing, “Look how tough and realistic I am!” The truth is they’re showing their refusal and inability to imagine any life outside their own pinched and narrow set of references.

I’m always with the virtue-signalers and the woke warriors, even if some of them have not yet perfectly translated their ideals into practical actions.

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Links to all my other stuff: linktr.ee/robbrezsny

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week of November 27

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Some seeds can remain dormant for centuries, waiting for the right conditions to germinate. The oldest successfully germinated seed was a 2,000-year-old date palm seed. I suspect you will experience psychospiritual and metaphorical versions of this marvel in the coming weeks. Certain aspects of you have long been dormant but are about to sprout. Some of your potentials have been waiting for conditions that you haven’t encountered until recently. Is there anything you can do to encourage these wondrous developments? Be alert for subtle magic that needs just a little nudge.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Orb weaver spiders make seven different types of silk, each engineered for different purposes: sticky silk for catching prey, strong silk for the web’s frame, stretchy silk for wrapping food, and soft silk for egg sacs. In other words, they don’t generate a stream of generic resources and decide later what to do with them. Each type of silk is produced by distinct silk glands and spinnerets, and each is carefully tailored for a particular use. I advise you to be like the orb weavers in the coming weeks, Capricorn. Specificity will be your superpower.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Benevolent gossip is the practice of speaking about people not to diminish them but to fondly wonder about them and try to understand them. What if gossip could be generous? What if talking about someone in their absence could be an act of compassionate curiosity rather than judgment? What if you spoke about everyone as if they might overhear you—not from fear but from respect? Your words about others could be spells that shape how they exist in the collective imagination. Here’s another beautiful fact about benevolent gossip: It can win you appreciation and attention that will enhance your ability to attract the kind of help and support you need.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Every 21,000 years, the Sahara Desert transforms into a lush green savanna. It’s due to precession, which is a wobble in the Earth’s axis. The African seasonal monsoon becomes much stronger, bringing increased rainfall to the entire area. The last time this occurred was from about 11,000 to 5,000 years ago. During this era, the Sahara supported lakes, rivers, grasslands, and diverse animal and human populations. I’m predicting a comparable shift for you in the coming months, Pisces. The onset of luxuriant growth is already underway. And right now is an excellent time to encourage and expedite the onset of flourishing abundance. Formulate the plans and leap into action.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Japanese word mushin means “no mind.” In Zen Buddhism, it refers to the state of flow where thinking stops and being takes over. When you are moving along in the groove of mushin, your body knows what to do before your brain catches up. You’re so present you disappear into the action itself. Athletes refer to it as “the zone.” It’s the place where effort becomes effortless, where you stop trying and simply love the doing. In the coming weeks, Aries, you can enjoy this state more than you have in a long time. Ride it with glee!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For the foreseeable future, salmon are your spirit creatures. I’ll remind you about their life cycle. They are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean, and live there for years. Then they return, moving against river currents, up waterfalls, past bears and eagles. Eventually, they arrive at the exact stream where they were born. How do they do it? They navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field and their sense of smell, remembering chemical signatures from years ago. I think your own calling is as vivid as theirs, dear Taurus. And in the coming weeks, you will be extra attuned to that primal signal. Trust the ancient pull back toward your soul’s home.

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What if procrastination isn’t always a problem? On some occasions, maybe it’s a message from your deeper self. Delay could serve as a form of protection. Avoidance might be a sign of your deep wisdom at work. Consider these possibilities, Gemini. What if your resistance to the “should” is actually your soul’s immune system rejecting a foreign agenda? It might be trying to tell you secrets about what you truly want versus what you think you should want.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m only slightly joking when I recommend that you practice the art of sacred bitching in the coming days. You are hereby authorized to complain and criticize with creative zeal. But the goal is not to push hard in a quest to solve problems perfectly. Instead, simply give yourself the luxury of processing and metabolizing the complications. Your venting and whining won’t be pathological, but a legitimate way to achieve emotional release. Sometimes, like now, you need acknowledgment more than solutions. Allowing feelings is more crucial than fixing things. The best course of action is saying “this is hard” until it’s slightly less hard.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The Chinese concept of yuanfen means that some connections are fated. Certain people were always meant to cross your path. Not soulmates necessarily, but soul-evokers: those who bring transformations that were inscribed on your destiny before you knew they were coming. When you meet a new person and feel instant recognition, that’s yuanfen. When a relationship changes your life, that’s yuanfen. When timing aligns impossibly but wonderfully, that’s yuanfen. According to my analysis, you Leos are due for such phenomena in the coming weeks—at least two, maybe more. Some opportunities appear because you pursue them. Others were always going to arrive simply because you opened your mind and heart.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Let’s talk about a forest’s roots. Mostly hidden from sight, they are the source of all visible life. They are always communicating with each other, sharing nourishment and information. When extra help is needed, they call on fungi networks to support them, distributing their outreach even further. Your own lineage works similarly, Virgo. It’s nutrient-rich and endlessly intertwined with others, some of whom came long before you. You are the flowering tip of an unseen intelligence. Every act of grounding—breathing deeply, resting your feet, returning to gratitude—is your body’s way of remembering its subterranean ancestry. Please keep these meditations at the forefront of your awareness in the coming weeks. I believe you will thrive to the degree that you draw from your extensive roots.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You are currently in a phase when it’s highly possible to become both smarter and wiser. You have a sixth sense for knowing exactly how to enhance both your intellectual and emotional intelligence. With this happy news in mind, I will remind you that your brain is constantly growing and changing. Every experience carves new neural pathways. Every repeated thought strengthens certain connections and weakens others. You’re not stuck with the brain you have, but are continuously building the brain that’s evolving. The architecture of your consciousness is always under construction. Take full advantage of this resilience and plasticity!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The coming weeks will be a favorable time to stand near what you want to become. I advise you to surround yourself with the energy you want to embody. Position yourself in the organic ecosystem of your aspirations without grasping or forcing. Your secret power is not imitation but osmosis. Not ambition but proximity. The transformations you desire will happen sideways, through exposure and absorption. You won’t become by trying to become; you will become by staying close to what calls you.

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