A few years ago when Russia invaded the Ukraine, the international oncology group Oncoalert decided to take a stand. Like so many chronically online heros who added the Ukraine flag to their Twitter bio, this group made a definitive public statement.
They severed ties to Russian oncologists who had nothing to do with the invasion. They decided the only retribution to the war was to exclude a small number of Russian oncologists from collaboration.
Years later, it might be worth pointing out that not only did this accomplish nothing of value, but the folks who cheered such acts of virtue signalling have all moved on.
For a while after the invasion, dozens of physician accounts constantly drew attention to the war— urging support for Ukraine.
Now it is crickets. And this isn't the only issue that is quietly forgotten. Monkeypox. Hantavirus. Russian multi drug resistant yersinia (the plague).
It's amazing how yesterday’s virtue signalling becomes tomorrow’s afterthought.
https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/oncoalerts-virtue-signaling-hurts
Vinay, The world is currently predominated (especially on line) by shallow people who do not think and who are generally "follow the popular Democrat boogeyman" folks. (There are people on the other side that do similarly, but the truly egregious examples are not there.) They have little (or no) idea about what they are supporting, what it means, and whether it is backed by any reality whatsoever. The "causes" disappear when their political usefulness has waned because they were never really causes to begin with. Really sad, really disappointing, really shameful. The question is what are the few remaining thinkers in the world going to do about it?
If the sort of characters you are describing were capable of insight- these episodes wouldn’t be merely an after thought- they’d be a stinging rebuke or deeply humiliating. But, no need to fear that, sadly…