“…accusations of ‘virtue signaling’ are, more than anything, a way of walking out on that argument and dismissing it altogether…”

…accusations of “virtue signaling” are, more than anything, a way of walking out on that argument and dismissing it altogether — a quick and easy solution for those moments when engaging and listening, agreeing or disagreeing, seem too hard, too challenging, too personal, too dangerous.

Jane Coaston, “High Horses”, The New York Times Magazine (13 August 2017), 11.