Well, I would like you to know that in my mind instead of this post I have actually left you a very long and cleverly written counter argument rather than admitting that you are correct.
Liberals absolutely do things on a regular basis to be part of the herd and make themselves feel superior without regard to how ridiculous or harmful it may be. I can not dispute this. Trying to make a positive difference in a very liberal industry for almost 20 years was always two steps forward, a bullet in each foot.
There is a company I occasionally interact with near Boston that has no idea how they look to the rest of the world and claim that a number of political things they are forcing on its consumers are hate when they shouldnt be involved in politics at all. They are not big, new, or innovative enough to attract the interest of big investors though their product is dependent on somebody big enough in another industry to have much control there and that company is super woke so the Boston company could be towing the line for its protection.
But I suspect as you noted many more are just the result of the herd thinking that seems to be baked into modern leftism.
The Boston area is full of people who are smart but don't ever question the liberal concept of the day. Some of them even put signs in their yards to proclaim their beliefs so people driving by will know they "believe in science", agree that "love is love" and that "water is life".
Like this one popular in the suburbs of Boston.
Thinking about what the phrases on the sign actually mean is not expected.
I think a challenge for people trying to understand modern liberal thinking is to try to set aside logic. I tend to assume the other person is thinking logically, and therefore must be doing things for a reason, even if it is not apparent. But sometimes for liberals the motivation is just trying to follow the herd.
