Well, hand-wringing doesn't do any good. To me, it's a legitimate mystery, independent of how it should be I'm actually curious to understand why things are the

Well, hand-wringing doesn't do any good. To me, it's a legitimate mystery, independent of how it should be I'm actually curious to understand why things are the way they are. We know people behave in reaction to incentives. So what are those incentives? How are they communicated? Why are they effective? I'm not sure what element of science it is (sociology? political science?) but it's an interesting problem - and certainly not unique to 21st century USA! I mean, these same questions are interesting to ask in many historical contexts when seemingly civilized, rational groups suddenly take a collective moral nosedive, to their own great detriment. Blacks not voting is a relatively mild case compared to the self-destructiveness of Germany in the 1930's or the USSR in the 40's-80's or the Cambodia of the 70's. There's plenty of other examples, too. Maybe if we can figure it out we can reduce the harm when it becomes an existential threat, as with climate change and WMD.