[foldr]

>Marc Benioff spends the entirety of his time virtue signalling about how he is saving LGBT refugees from this or that, while superficially that's nice, it's ultra narcissistic PR and self aggrandization to use those people as tools for corporate branding. Nobody calls him out.

I don't think this sort of cynicism about LGBT rights activism is helpful. If we want to make progress in this area, we need support from all sectors of society. That definitely includes people who aren't saints and who don't act from wholly disinterested and pure motives. Whatever his motives (and I can't read his mind – can you?), Marc Benioff did something substantial to support LGBT rights when many other CEOs did not.

There's no objective content to the accusation of "virtue signalling". It's a zero-effort means of objecting to whatever kind of activism someone doesn't like. Instead of making a substantive criticism of the activism itself, just jump to uncharitable conclusions about the person's inner motivations.

[jollybean]

Virtue Signalling is absolutely a thing.

Hollow and performative support for an issues that services only to engender the supporter with social points.

Supporting Ukraine doesn't bring anyone brownie points because it's not so much a moral position.

Corporations 'supporting' BLM, especially with donations, which is a totally corrupt charity - this is a problem. Corporations even throwing up the word 'equity' is a bit of a start, but not really there. Corporations making money off of it (Nike) is evil. Corporations doing something thoughtful and material about it, now that's not 'virtue signalling'. If they want to humble-brag about it in some non aggrandising way, then that's fine but it should not be part of company branding.

[foldr]

It would certainly be unfair to accuse Benioff of merely 'hollow and performative' activism, given that his activism achieved actual results:

> Benioff led an effort of business leaders fighting back against [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act], leading to a revised version of the bill being signed into law that prohibited businesses from denying services to someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity

The accusation of virtue signaling is a convenient rhetorical move. It makes it possible to rail against things that no-one likes (hypocrisy and insincerity) rather than against the changes that activists are attempting to bring about – which many people may support.

In reality it doesn't much matter whether someone is an activist out of selfish motives or altruistic ones. That's between them and their conscience. What matters is what they're an activist for, and whether it's a good thing or not.

But perhaps you can clarify this point. Do you really object only to Marc Benioff's (supposed) underlying motives in opposing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Or is it not that you support the Act, and therefore oppose activism against it?

[hoseja]

Why do we want that? We're well past the point of diminishing returns on that particular obsession.

[foldr]

You'll have to expand on that. I am not sure exactly what you think we don't want.