It turns out that BLM responds to incentives. Under Obama, they had an incentive to riot. Under Trump, they have an incentive to behave.
In recent years, policing has been among the nation’s most visible issues as people outraged by use of force and racial disparities in punishment took to the streets under the “Black Lives Matter” banner. But news related to controversial police encounters with black Americans has been met with relatively subdued responses in recent weeks. A viral video showing police in a Michigan town pointing a gun at unarmed black boys. An officer in a Dallas suburb fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager. A plea deal for a onetime North Charleston, S.C., officer who shot a fleeing suspect in the back.
No massive protests. No nonstop news coverage…
But activists say the movement’s efforts have entered a new phase — one more focused on policy than protest — prompted by the election of President Trump.
“What people are seeing is that there are less demonstrations,” said Alicia Garza, one of three women credited with coining the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag after a jury acquitted a neighborhood watchman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012. “A lot of that is that people are channeling their energy into organizing locally, recognizing that in Trump’s America, our communities are under direct attack.”
It reminds me of Israel’s negotiating with Palestinians. The more flexible Israel got, the worse Palestinians behaved. The tougher Israel became, the better they behaved.
Even low-IQ groups respond to incentives.
