Political correctness has made us cynical. Things are no longer done out of human kindness but for the sake of virtue signalling or (worse still) fear, that we may be cancelled. What may be done about this? I find myself embarrassed to ask the question because I fear you may think me guilty of virtue signalling myself- and yet most of us wish to do good and even to be recognised for it. However, we do not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and make it all about us.
I am trying to find a more authentic alternative to wokery or virtue signalling.
The easiest way to do this is in our daily food shop. I choose Morrisons over the slightly cheaper Aldi because Morrisons has a policy of feeding the homeless and because most of the meat is Red Tractor. This is a cheap standard in that it requires nothing of the farmer that the law does not require. By buying Red Tractor we may support British farmers who labour under stricter animal welfare rules than other nations- including those in the European Union. Why do we not simply ban foreign imports? This would result in retaliation. It would also raise the price of food which would hurt the poor. I prefer the current system that allows us to choose for ourselves- and it is a very cheap choice to make.
Fairtrade is a common solution but in my mind slightly suspect. Fairtrade is bureaucratic and is aligned with the left. I personally prefer Rainforest Alliance which has little or no price premium. True, Rainforest Alliance does not concern itself with worker welfare but it does good without aligning itself with left-wing solutions to third-world problems that have never worked anywhere.
To answer my own question. The people to heal this cynical world is ourselves. To do good without drawing attention to ourselves and to think things through.
Comments
Post a Comment