The question was not what the “BLM movement” should do, but what an individual Americans should do; your steps do not seem actionable for individuals. Your steps 1 and 2 also partly beg the question.
Additionally, assuming the support of all Democratic politicians is highly dubious; a number of cities that have been marked by highly visible abusive police behavior in recent weeks are already controlled by Democratic mayors and city councils, who in many cases have nonetheless refused to hold the police accountable. And support of 50% of the population (which BLM now has) is certainly not always enough to pass “whatever policy you want” absent coordinated organization and in the face of political inertia; for example marijuana legalization has had majority nationwide support for years but has no near-term prospect of passage at the federal level.
Yes, I’m conflating “BLM movement” and “individual Americans who want to help BLM achieve its goals” because isn’t it the same thing. Ok, from what you’ve told me, it sounds like getting Republican support is the easiest way to achieve change.
With that in mind, actionable points (for a generic BLM supporter not just for lesswrongers, I think you probably aren’t bullying anyone already):
propose your own policy ideas, e.g. like Eliezer did on Facebook
stop bullying everyone who disagrees with you, so you can learn what they think and find solutions that both sides support
defend shops from looters so people have more sympathy for your side
Yes, I’m conflating “BLM movement” and “individual Americans who want to help BLM achieve its goals” because isn’t it the same thing.
No? I want to help BLM achieve its goals, but “launch a nationwide discussion” and “come to a consensus policy” are not actions I can personally take. If I post policy proposals on Facebook it seems unlikely to me that many people will read or be influenced by them; it also seems unlikely that they would be better than many other policy ideas already out there. If you actually do think that lack of policy ideas is the most important bottleneck for BLM and that personal Facebook posts by non-experts is a promising way of addressing it then that’s a possible answer, but if so I’d like to see your analysis for why you believe that.
find solutions that both sides support
Note that at the national level this is inherently very difficult because for any proposal made by one party, the other party has an incentive to oppose it in order to deny the proposing party a victory (and the accompanying halo of strength and efficacy). But fortunately this is not necessarily a problem for at least some approaches to the police reform issue, because police are mostly controlled by state & city governments, and as noted many states and cities are under undisputed Democratic Party control, so the relevant politics are within rather than between parties.
defend shops from looters so people have more sympathy for your side
This seems to have already been done; reports of looting have become increasingly rare and polls report public sympathy for BLM is very high.
polls report public sympathy for BLM is very high.
Wow, I actually haven’t expected that at all.
Maybe many years ago this turn of events would seem natural to me. People care about each other and stand up for each other when someone gets hurt, right? Well, wrong. At least in Russia, most people don’t care much about victims of police violence, as I’ve found. And in USA it seems to only be about black people. So while I can see why Democrats are supporting their ingroop, I don’t get the increase in Republican support. Could people be lying about their views because they’re afraid of repercussions for expressing wrong ones? Seems like a big stretch.
My people believed in nonviolent protest, and lost. While I’d broken away from the doctrine and cheered for people who fought back against cops, I’ve always thought that pointless violence against innocents would make people hate me. (Or do they just hate the cops even more? I didn’t notice that.) Will people like my politics more if I go loot some shops? Or is it something else they did right.
I walk away from you guys totally confused about how it all really works.
The question was not what the “BLM movement” should do, but what an individual Americans should do; your steps do not seem actionable for individuals. Your steps 1 and 2 also partly beg the question.
Additionally, assuming the support of all Democratic politicians is highly dubious; a number of cities that have been marked by highly visible abusive police behavior in recent weeks are already controlled by Democratic mayors and city councils, who in many cases have nonetheless refused to hold the police accountable. And support of 50% of the population (which BLM now has) is certainly not always enough to pass “whatever policy you want” absent coordinated organization and in the face of political inertia; for example marijuana legalization has had majority nationwide support for years but has no near-term prospect of passage at the federal level.
Sorry, I’ve realized they have a list of demands already. https://blacklivesmatter.ca/demands/
Yes, I’m conflating “BLM movement” and “individual Americans who want to help BLM achieve its goals” because isn’t it the same thing. Ok, from what you’ve told me, it sounds like getting Republican support is the easiest way to achieve change.
With that in mind, actionable points (for a generic BLM supporter not just for lesswrongers, I think you probably aren’t bullying anyone already):
propose your own policy ideas, e.g. like Eliezer did on Facebook
stop bullying everyone who disagrees with you, so you can learn what they think and find solutions that both sides support
defend shops from looters so people have more sympathy for your side
No? I want to help BLM achieve its goals, but “launch a nationwide discussion” and “come to a consensus policy” are not actions I can personally take. If I post policy proposals on Facebook it seems unlikely to me that many people will read or be influenced by them; it also seems unlikely that they would be better than many other policy ideas already out there. If you actually do think that lack of policy ideas is the most important bottleneck for BLM and that personal Facebook posts by non-experts is a promising way of addressing it then that’s a possible answer, but if so I’d like to see your analysis for why you believe that.
Note that at the national level this is inherently very difficult because for any proposal made by one party, the other party has an incentive to oppose it in order to deny the proposing party a victory (and the accompanying halo of strength and efficacy). But fortunately this is not necessarily a problem for at least some approaches to the police reform issue, because police are mostly controlled by state & city governments, and as noted many states and cities are under undisputed Democratic Party control, so the relevant politics are within rather than between parties.
This seems to have already been done; reports of looting have become increasingly rare and polls report public sympathy for BLM is very high.
Wow, I actually haven’t expected that at all.
Maybe many years ago this turn of events would seem natural to me. People care about each other and stand up for each other when someone gets hurt, right? Well, wrong. At least in Russia, most people don’t care much about victims of police violence, as I’ve found. And in USA it seems to only be about black people. So while I can see why Democrats are supporting their ingroop, I don’t get the increase in Republican support. Could people be lying about their views because they’re afraid of repercussions for expressing wrong ones? Seems like a big stretch.
My people believed in nonviolent protest, and lost. While I’d broken away from the doctrine and cheered for people who fought back against cops, I’ve always thought that pointless violence against innocents would make people hate me. (Or do they just hate the cops even more? I didn’t notice that.) Will people like my politics more if I go loot some shops? Or is it something else they did right.
I walk away from you guys totally confused about how it all really works.