Losing the Signal

I saw a meme that a Facebook friend posted, which read, “Don’t judge me by your standards, unless you want me to judge you by mine.” I completely understood the intent of the meme; virtue signaling, disguised as profundity.The problem is that everybody does this, all the time. Via our own standards and understanding of right and wrong, we judge if someone’s attitudes or behavior are good or bad.

It’s how we make friends, get married, hire people or accept jobs. If someone’s attitudes/behavior/values sync with ours, we interact with varying degrees of intimacy. Granted, we can interact/do commerce with those we disagree with, but as a rule, we won’t establish emotional ties with them.

My friends, I gotta tell you; I’m tired. I’m tired of smug, self-righteous posts, from smug, self-righteous people telling me that they’re better people than I am. I really, really, hate smugness. Look in the mirror, you sanctimonious bastards. I’m done apologizing.