Virtue signaling is a global problem.
People I met from western countries have patronized me in the past years.
It starts with “ooh, you are from India” in a condescending tone.
I know the perception people from the west have of India, which is unfortunate, but such responses feel patronizing.
Recently, I met an American when I was in Singapore. We were talking, and out of the blue, she started mentioning her gluten allergy and how the country wasn’t accommodating her needs.
First of all, from what I know, food allergies are not really common in Asia compared to the west. I don’t know anyone who has food allergies.
Secondly, you should be aware of the place you are traveling to. If you have restrictions, you have to make sure you can fit in instead of imposing your “diet” on people who have no clue about gluten allergies.
Right on cue, she proceeded to ask a seemingly normal European man who seemed to be minding his own business if he was okay. I was as confused as the man, and he replied he was fine.
Apparently, this woman felt like the guy was not okay or said something similar and decided she should help her.
Around that time, I also stumbled across this TechCrunch article MrBeast's blindness video puts systemic ableism on display. I can’t imagine someone watching MrBeast's video where he pays for surgery so that 1000 blind people around the world can see again.
The video shows grandparents being able to see their grandchildren for the first time, and it is heartwarming for most of us.
But if you are a “woke” western journalist, you would be offended on behalf of the entire visually impaired community.
This is a classic example of virtue signaling. The problem the journalist mentions here boils down to MrBeast not helping people in a way the journalist approves of.
I’m pretty sure the people who MrBeast helped were thankful for his help. And it doesn’t seem like MrBeast discriminates against the visually impaired in the video.
So I guess wanting to see correctly is a third-world concept, and the “woke” way should be to embrace your visual impairment and force yourself and society to live with it.
It is also concerning that someone at TechCrunch thought this was a legit problem. I was under the impression that “woke” people were a minority. But either they have significantly grown in numbers or are more dominant, making others afraid to contradict them.
It also sucks that this “wokeness” is spreading to other parts of the world, even in India and my small state of Kerala. The “Malayalee woke” have different problems, but they give off the same vibe. It is easy to identify them, so I always keep a safe distance.