The Pandemic of Virtue

One particular cocktail of codswallop that I find impossible to swallow is the tendency these days of people to place a much higher moral value on their personal opinions and feelings than on science or facts. 

Yesterday, old friend and colleague Bruce Abramson sent me a piece he'd published in The Epoch Times titled The Pandemic of Virtue.

He could have written it to perfectly describe this guy (a church pastor, no less), who delivers up a bar tray loaded with codswallop shots:

I don’t suppose you can see it.

I guess that’s how hypocrisy works. 

I suppose that’s what cults do to people. 

Honestly, it must be hard keeping up with his mental instability.

I imagine you’re so confused by your allegiance to a serial liar, that this disconnect is invisible to you.

This wasn't written to change minds; it was written to make the reader feel guilty for not falling in line with his narrative.  And I'll bet it did just the opposite of what he wanted; I'll bet he pissed you off.

Virtue signaling is nothing new to the worldwide web, but the COVID-19 pandemic seems to bring out the worst in a lot of people.

I'm with Bruce, who says:

The new morality, it turns out, is as old as human history. Our leaders have determined what is necessary to serve the public good. Our job is to comply. Failure to comply—or even willingness to question—marks you as an enemy of the public. 

We are hurtling headfirst into very dangerous territory. The scariest thing about it is neither the virus nor the economic shutdown. The true source of terror is the ease with which a majority of Americans seem willing to embrace the reasoning that every one of history’s dictators has forwarded to justify the death of freedom.

P.S. -- Excuse the crazy font changes.  I forgot what a pain in the ha-ha html code is.  I'll do better.  I promise.