Becoming a good person who contributes to society is difficult, as outlined in a previous post. It requires a change in mindset, a change in attitudes and acting according to rules. Making that change can also mean that you will face consequences from friends, family and even the authorities. There will always be a cost to being a "good person". It's actually far easier to LOOK like someone who's virtuous without actually making the sacrifices. So, in order to gain social brownie points, you'll need to be effective at signaling your virtue to both your digital and analog social circles.
Here are a few easy tips on how to do that.
1) Be Offended and Outraged
You have a lot of options here. You can be offended about jokes. You can be outraged at the lack of racial/gender/religious/sexual orientation/physical size/disability/dietary choice "representation" in films and TV shows. You can complain about public figures' comments, or lack thereof, on a given controversial topic that they have no expertise on. You can complain about the insensitivity of Halloween costumes.
Of course, even if you're not part of the group that you believe is being victimized by the offensive piece of content, you shouldn't be shy to show how offended and outraged you are. After all, if you're not part of that underprivileged group, you can still be an "ally" to that group. You can use your "position of privilege" to help the cause.
You know, because people that are different from you have no agency at all and will always require your help.
2) Take to the Streets and Protest
Historically, protesting on the streets has been a great way to get governments to take action. This worked in the past when trying to get a dictator to step down from power or to have specific laws changed. It's eventually worked for people wanting political prisoners to be freed or for people wanting to get an occupying power out of their country.
Of course, there's a cost for those types of protestors. They historically have been targets of violence, unlawful imprisonment and other human rights violations. Think about the Civil Rights movement in the US in the 1960s, the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, or more recently, the protests in Chile and Hong Kong as examples.
If you live in a free society and democracy in 2019, the types of causes similar to those mentioned above aren't found as easily. Instead, you'll have to find ways to protest against problems and concepts like censorship of free speech, racism, police brutality, income inequality, sexism, anti-scientific thinking, climate change and human extinction. It's not that these causes aren't worthy of protest. The problem is that these are complex, unspecific issues that require extremely complex solutions which can't be fixed by simply taking a walk.
Here are a few easy tips on how to do that.
1) Be Offended and Outraged
You have a lot of options here. You can be offended about jokes. You can be outraged at the lack of racial/gender/religious/sexual orientation/physical size/disability/dietary choice "representation" in films and TV shows. You can complain about public figures' comments, or lack thereof, on a given controversial topic that they have no expertise on. You can complain about the insensitivity of Halloween costumes.
Of course, even if you're not part of the group that you believe is being victimized by the offensive piece of content, you shouldn't be shy to show how offended and outraged you are. After all, if you're not part of that underprivileged group, you can still be an "ally" to that group. You can use your "position of privilege" to help the cause.
You know, because people that are different from you have no agency at all and will always require your help.
2) Take to the Streets and Protest
Historically, protesting on the streets has been a great way to get governments to take action. This worked in the past when trying to get a dictator to step down from power or to have specific laws changed. It's eventually worked for people wanting political prisoners to be freed or for people wanting to get an occupying power out of their country.
Of course, there's a cost for those types of protestors. They historically have been targets of violence, unlawful imprisonment and other human rights violations. Think about the Civil Rights movement in the US in the 1960s, the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, or more recently, the protests in Chile and Hong Kong as examples.
If you live in a free society and democracy in 2019, the types of causes similar to those mentioned above aren't found as easily. Instead, you'll have to find ways to protest against problems and concepts like censorship of free speech, racism, police brutality, income inequality, sexism, anti-scientific thinking, climate change and human extinction. It's not that these causes aren't worthy of protest. The problem is that these are complex, unspecific issues that require extremely complex solutions which can't be fixed by simply taking a walk.
For example, if you want to stop climate change caused by humans, you can try to get governments to commit to making investments in clean energy and reduce carbon emissions. To make that work, that means you need to create a mechanism to enforce their commitments. And then those governments have to get trillion dollar industries to bend to their will. Good luck fixing that with your march.
But hey, you did take to the streets for a cause. You marched and blocked traffic to let people know that you're fighting against a concept or something that requires a multiple levels of complex thought to to reach a solution. You didn't really affect change and put yourself in any danger of violent reprisals. Your protesting just made it LOOK like you did something. That should be enough. You just want to seem like you're "fighting" without actually incurring any real cost to your well-being.
3) "Think of the Children"
Saying that you're thinking of children and future generations as a reason for your position is great way to show your virtue. This is true whether you're part of a highly religious group wanting to censor the latest blasphemous, popular film or whether you're part of an environmental activism group trying to fight climate change.
Even if you don't have kids or you don't really care about kids, you'll sound like someone who cares. All you need to do is to position your argument as being based on "protecting children" or ensuring that you are fighting to "leave a better world for the next generation". This is a very easy way to demonstrate that you are unselfish and better than other people who can only think of theirs and their own families' current well-being.
It is true that children can be vulnerable to adults who can directly exploit them. This is not what I'm talking about. To actually help expose and help prosecute a pedophile or a child pornography ring requires time, effort and could potentially put yourself in harm's way. Studying and getting a job as a social worker who tries to take kids away from their abusive home is way more difficult than simply clicking "like" and "share" on a social media sob story.
It's much easier to say that you're thinking of the children when you petition school boards to censor what kind of books teachers should be teaching or when you demand that certain types of words need to be "policed" in schools. That's an easier task that will make you seem like a good person who wants to help children.
Even if you don't have kids or you don't really care about kids, you'll sound like someone who cares. All you need to do is to position your argument as being based on "protecting children" or ensuring that you are fighting to "leave a better world for the next generation". This is a very easy way to demonstrate that you are unselfish and better than other people who can only think of theirs and their own families' current well-being.
It is true that children can be vulnerable to adults who can directly exploit them. This is not what I'm talking about. To actually help expose and help prosecute a pedophile or a child pornography ring requires time, effort and could potentially put yourself in harm's way. Studying and getting a job as a social worker who tries to take kids away from their abusive home is way more difficult than simply clicking "like" and "share" on a social media sob story.
It's much easier to say that you're thinking of the children when you petition school boards to censor what kind of books teachers should be teaching or when you demand that certain types of words need to be "policed" in schools. That's an easier task that will make you seem like a good person who wants to help children.
4) Document everything on Social Media
Of course, you must make sure your efforts are visible to the world. If there are no pics (or videos), then it didn't happen. This is where social media comes in.
Now I'll admit that in places where oppressive governments censor the press and the flow of information, social media has been useful at disseminating news of civic unrest. The Arab Spring wouldn't have played out the way it did if it wasn't for Twitter, for example.
However, for those living in free, Western democracies, you can also use this tactic to make your actions seem more virtuous than they actually are.
Post selfies of you and your besties participating in protests to show that "you took part in this historic moment." That way, when someone else did the work of getting elected, changing laws and negotiating with multiple stakeholders to effect real-life political and social change, you can point to your Instagram pic and take credit because you skipped out on a job you don't like that day to take a walk.
Don't be shy to post on public figures' social media accounts to call them out on their non-woke behaviours and opinions. You can "call them out" if they're not living up to the arbitrary moral standards of the day.
Even if these public figures are too busy doing their jobs and have outsourced their social media to their marketing and PR teams, it's ok. You'll get more views on your posts by tagging these people than just posting something yourself. And that means more people can potentially see how morally superior you are.
Final Thoughts
It's very difficult to actually be a good person. In fact, it's almost impossible if you consider all the unintended consequences of your choices and actions. Creating real social change is incredibly difficult. It's much easier to make people THINK that you are virtuous. It's easier to adopt a strong opinion on a subject and determine that one side is perfectly good and the other is evidently evil without examining the nuances.
Final Thoughts
It's very difficult to actually be a good person. In fact, it's almost impossible if you consider all the unintended consequences of your choices and actions. Creating real social change is incredibly difficult. It's much easier to make people THINK that you are virtuous. It's easier to adopt a strong opinion on a subject and determine that one side is perfectly good and the other is evidently evil without examining the nuances.
Whether it's allying yourself with an "oppressed" group or using future generations as the "beneficiaries" of your actions, the idea is to make sure that the most amount of people see that you're being morally superior. With that, you can reap the benefits of being a good person without having to face the difficult consequences of choosing morally acceptable behaviour.
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