"CONSPICUOUS VIRTUE" - WHAT REALLY DRIVES THE URGE TO BUY AN ORGANIC CARBON NEUTRAL PRIUS

RAGO OF THE WSJ NAILS IT (VIA ARMAVIRUMQUE):

To consume a virtuous good is to make a statement. It is not only to do right, whatever that might mean, but to announce that you are doing so. Thus we encounter the extreme specialization of virtuous consumption. ... Take Toyota's hybrid auto, the Prius. Studies consistently show that fuel savings do not justify the price premium of a gasoline-electric power train. People who can afford the gesture continue to buy the Prius anyway, largely because it certifies personal enlightenment in the matter of global warming.

ARMAVIRUMQUE'S STEFAN BECK CONTINUES:

I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “Character is what you do when no one’s looking.” A fine sentiment, poised as it is against the impulse to trumpet one’s every act of charity or “eco-consciousness.” Of course, putting said fine sentiment on your bumper is a handy way of suggesting the many virtuous things you do while no one’s looking, which kind of defeats the purpose.

In simpler times, religious folks were virtuous (in their behavior if not in their choice of automobiles) because they believed God was watching. Do those who practice today’s secular virtues believe that their fellow men are watching?

I THINK SO; THEY GET TO DISPLAY TO OTHERS THEIR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, AS RAGO NOTES.

OR IS IT SOMETHING ELSE, SOMETHING MORE EGOCENTRIC? RTWT. BOTH.

PERSONALLY, I AGREE WITH THOSE WHO SAY THAT THE ECO-NUTSIES ARE PRACTICING A FORM OF PAGAN RELIGION - A RELIGION WHICH THE POSTMODERN LEFT FINDS ACCEPTABLE: WORSHIPING THE EARTH.

GAIA WORSHIP HAS BECOME A CENTRAL WAY POSTMODERNISTS EXPRESS HOW THEY REVILE HUMANS IN GENERAL, BUT ESPECIALLY CAPITALIST, INDUSTRIALIST, JUDEO-CHRISTIAN/WESTERN HUMANS.

MORE ON HOW THE PRIUS IS A TOTAL SHAM (LIKE MOST OF THE ECO-NUTSIE PRGRAM) HERE.

[NOTE: NO ANIMALS WERE TESTED IN WRITING THIS POST. HEH.]