I think I buy this line of reasoning in general, but I don't think Adams is applying it correctly in this case. If group A is doing something that makes you unhappy because group B is rewarding them for it, then it is no more "winner behavior" to go after group B than group A: in both cases you're trying to get others to fix your problems for you, by adding a negative incentive in one case and by removing a positive incentive in another.

I can make sense of this in a few ways: maybe Adams thinks at some level that B has agency as a group but A doesn't. (This is, clearly, wrong.) Or maybe he thinks that you're just more likely to convince members of B than members of A, which at least isn't obviously wrong but still requires assumptions not in evidence.