| Commentary |
| In many ways, humans are simple. We need food. We love sex. And we craft our behavior based on incentives. This starts at a young age. When children misbehave, their parents punish them. When they act properly, they receive rewards. This incentivizes the children to be good, which in turn makes their parents’ lives easier. Leaders must understand this dynamic to be effective. Whether they’re running a family, a school, a company, or a country, the people in charge should always give those beneath them a reason to help create harmony. That’s what’s best for everybody, whether they’re at the top of the hierarchy or the bottom. Unfortunately, much of America’s leadership class fails to grasp this simple concept. The Daniel Penny story is a glaring example. When Alvin Bragg tried to slap the Marine veteran with a life sentence for preventing a belligerent and out-of-control subway rider from harming his fellow riders, he incentivized New Yorkers to act as bystanders in the face of public violence. Penny refused to do that, and he wound up in a courtroom. Given that precedent, why would any members of the public risk their freedom by intervening in a similar situation? Bragg created no incentive to do so. Such negligence has consequences. On Christmas Eve, an unhinged lunatic plunged a knife into a woman’s throat in Grand Central Station, nearly viciously ending her life on the cold, hard floors of America’s largest city. Grand Central is one of the world’s busiest public transportation hubs, so the attack had plenty of witnesses. How did they react? Did they do whatever was required to stop the attacker? No. According to the victim, not a single witness came to her aid. They “just froze,” she reportedly said. The knife-wielder stabbed another passerby just a few moments later. A functioning society cannot exist this way. The public must feel safe to stop psychopaths from murdering their fellow citizens without fear of prosecution. Incentivizing complicity can only lead to more chaos. Unless that’s what our leaders seek, they must immediately alter their strategy. If they don’t, the country’s streets will continue to devolve into anarchist hellscapes where the deranged can target the innocent with no fear of being stopped. |
John Barleycorn 