Virtue Signaling vs. Doing What You Can: When There Is Resistance to the Resistance
- Mia Perry Bowick
- Jan 30
- 3 min read
January 30, 2026
Today is the day of the national general strike.
A day when people across the country are being asked to show outrage and solidarity by not going to work, not going to school, not spending money.
Tomorrow, there are protests happening everywhere.
And I know not all of us can participate in either.
I wasn’t sure what my role should be.
To not work?
(Which, for me, means not writing.)
But that doesn’t sit right in my body.
Writing is one of the only ways I know how to move difficult thoughts and feelings through my system.
It’s one of the only ways I know how to metabolize fear.
And it’s something I can do.
So I’m doing what I can.
And I think that’s what’s being asked of us right now.
Not perfection.
Not purity.
Not performance.
Just: do what you can, from where you are.
When “Virtue Signaling” Loses the Plot
The phrase virtue signaling is being misused.
And I think it’s hurting us.
The term makes sense when someone in power publicly aligns themselves with a value and then does nothing, or worse, actively works against it.
A president.
A congressperson.
Someone with actual leverage.
For example:
A government official says,
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families…”
after another school shooting.
And then votes to keep guns easily accessible to people who want to kill children.
That is virtue signaling.
That is power pretending to care while actively causing harm.
But now the term gets thrown at anyone who does something small.
Something imperfect.
Something visible.
And that’s where it becomes dangerous.
Doing What You Can Is Not a Performance
Let’s say someone is laid up on a couch, in unbearable pain, fighting cancer.
All their energy is going toward staying alive.
So they post something on Instagram.
Is that virtue signaling?
Or is that a human being doing what they can?
What if someone donates money to an organization and posts about it?
Are they showing off?
Or are they hoping someone else sees it and thinks,
I could spare twenty bucks.
Now that organization has another $20.
What if you have three kids under five and feel like you’re drowning?
What if you’re in an abusive relationship with someone who holds very different political views?
What if you can’t afford rent and groceries, let alone donate to anyone else?
What if you’re paralyzed by fear and genuinely don’t know what to do?
And all you can manage today is:
Thoughts and prayers.
A candle.
A song of kindness to your children.
A soft smile to a stranger.
I believe those things matter too.
I really do.
Hope, Cynicism, and the Choice Between Them
So let me ask you
Are you doing what you can?
Is there one tiny action that fits inside your current budget and bandwidth?
And maybe the bigger question:
How do we not let fear crush our spirits?
How do we not let the naysayers gaslight us out of what we know is right?
The ones who say:
It won’t matter.
It won’t make an impact.
There’s no point in trying.
Because here’s the thing.
The space between hope and cynicism is choice.
Choosing to act without proof.
Choosing to care without guarantees.
Especially when you don’t know if it will make a difference.
Because it might.
Because it could.
Because small things add up.
This Is Faith
Not the religious kind, necessarily.
But the human kind.
Hope held without evidence.
Action taken without certainty.
Faith that what you do matters even when you can’t see how.
We need that right now.
We need you doing what you can.
You are powerful.
And we are more powerful together.
Do I know this will change anything?
No.
But I hope it will.
And today, that hope feels worth choosing.
Keep the faith, friends.
Mia
NONPROFITS I SUPPORTED TODAY
Colorado-Based Organizations
Casa de Paz
https://www.casadepazcolorado.org/
Supporting asylum seekers and immigrants with dignity and care.
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
Providing legal services to detained immigrants and abused children.
National Organizations
National Immigration Law Center
Advancing rights for low-income immigrants and their families.
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Offering free legal and social services to detained immigrants.
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