Or better yet: booking the test drive AND showing up, taking the test drive (and afterwards telling the staff that itś a nice car but you would not buy it because you fear it Will be vandalized b/c of Musk)
tie up those TSLA resources w/out intention to purchase and let them know the reason why-
that message Will traval up fast.
And Trump wanted to shoot them. He has less restraint now, so I fully expect protests will result in mass shootings.
That thought/question has definitely crossed my mind more than once lately: What would trigger our Enabling Act? Or, less dramatically, what would it take for MAGA man to invoke the Insurrection Act, National Emergencies Act, etc.?
In its current state, I think the military and domestic law enforcement agencies would resist. They would, as we are seeing now with the DOJ and elsewhere, refuse to execute orders they disagree with and up either resigning or staying on knowing that they’ll inevitably be placed on leave and terminated. This resistance can last for a few months to a year maybe before these institutions become top-filled with loyalists who are dedicated to the rule of man rather than the the rule of law. Once that happens, resistance gets a lot more painful and potentially costly for the average individual. For that reason, I think that whatever resistance that exists has a limited window of time to materialize before the authoritarians have the kind of hard power they need to impose their will.
What concerns me particularly is that when one considers the success of past movements such as Gandhi’s revolt against British power, Martin Luther King’s resistance against Jim Crow, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and so forth, these movements occurred during a time of growing liberalization of thought. These movements were trying to win over powerful allies who weren’t directly in their conflict. When I look at what’s going on here and now, the “resistance” here has no one else they can appeal to. They are not just the resistance; they’re the political opposition. There are elites on both sides of the conflict. Two forces that stand in opposition. One side accepts the idea of two powers standing in opposition; the other sees this conflict in zero-sum terms. In their view, the opposition has to be eliminated. The two cannot coexist. In other words, civil war.
I agree with you, but then again, “not giving a shit” you is so much easier if you already quit (mentally and emotionally) months before.
If I knew I am on my way out, I’d show up with a smiling face and slow-walk the hell out of my job (were it GOP/Trump/Musk agenda) … the whole malicious-compliance and civil-desobediance playbook behind the mask of a smiling civil-servant.
Extra brownie points when you can take down (burocratically speaking) one of those eager 25yo zealots who’s job it is to make everybody’s life sa miserable as possible.
I’m ready and willing to show resistance to Trump and if / when I get some practical suggestions on how to do that, I’m all in.
On Friday I participated in a protest against my local, Republican representative. The one I keep trying to contact but for some reason her website never seems to work properly. We delivered hundreds of “valentines” with our gripes on them to her office and protested at the (major) intersection outside her office at City Hall. I know many think it’s useless; maybe it is, but it’s better than sitting on my hands and waiting for “someone to do something”. While most of California is reliably blue, I live amidst a republican majority, but not by much. We aren’t trying to reach anyone but swing and apathetic voters.
At the very least, it was good for me.
Edited to say that I don’t mean to criticize those that don’t have the resources to do anything. I know we can’t all participate in a rally in the middle of a work day. This is probably the most I can do at the moment and I hope others will be able to do more at some point.
Wouldn’t be hard to require a valid credit card and a nominal deposit to reserve the time for a test drive either.
As of right now, they don’t.
but even then … whats the problem … ?
take the testdrive (as long a trip as you can get away with) … be respectful to the workers there … and then let them know that you live in a very liberal environment and are afraid to purchase a tesla because of the STIGMA that comes with it today… but hopefully Musk can get out of the company - so you could reconsider your decision.
if 1000s of people could do this, you clog up a lot of their resources, and i ASSURE you, the message will travel up.
… and given that e.g. TESLA sales in germany are down ~60% in january, I am sure the board is sitting on nails already. DW - linky here
[snip]
Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) reported that there were just 1,277 new Tesla vehicles registered in January, down 59.5% from the same month in 2024.
There’s this, scheduled for tomorrow (President’s Day, Feb 17, 2025):
Protests are set to take place in several major cities across the U.S. on Monday, the Presidents Day holiday, according to activists.
These demonstrations are being organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement.” The protests are a response to what organizers describe as “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.” This marks the second nationwide protest by the group, following an event held on Feb. 5.
…
This is the organization’s website-- probably should keep an eye on this…
Bear in mind that the person doing the test drive for you gets a crummy salary and doesn’t get a commission or opportunities for a little bonus when you don’t buy. You’re alienating and harming someone who’s going to feel the effects (and be resentful toward this type of action) much more and much more quickly than doing something targeted at the corporation.
sales persons at tesla do NOT get commission - and the more test drives they have, the safer their job - my rationale…
you are literally doing what THEY were hired for
(and I think you are reluctant to throw cottonballs at the Bull that is charging towards you)
No, I have family members who work at car dealerships and get by month to month. I’m very aware of the Bull and very engaged with it.
ETA: I’m glad Tesla sales people aren’t on commission.
Today was President’s Day. I was surprised to find, while driving through our downtown area, a throng of anti-Trump/Musk protesters outside the county courthouse. Had I known about it, I might have been there too. And I saw there were a lot of people at the state capital doing the same thing. This is a very red county, though the city is blue, and there have been times that protesters have been assaulted by MAGA goons in broad daylight.
And this just pisses me off so much. We have been protesting, we have been out there. I’ve marched twice this month and there are others who have been out there very single day.
The media doesn’t want to report this. President Musk doesn’t like free speech and is already trying to supress it. The media is terrified and they scurry off like cockroaches when they are told to go away.
MAGAts with Europe related business interests might feel a bit of a pinch if tariff or embargoes or consumer boycotts occur. Maybe they’ll start to wake tf up.
Things haven’t gotten bad enough yet and Americans are extremely housebroken and brainwashed. For people who think the Fourth Reich is here, the streets are about to be flooded with blood and Auschwitz 2.0 is on the horizon, they definitely aren’t fighting back remotely as hard as would be warranted if these things were true. SNL sketches and sassy social media posts aren’t resistance.
Well I hope those who are physically and emotionally able begin to fight back harder at all levels.
I am doing what I can but it’s limited.
I’ve been protesting consistently since 2017, first against Trump during his first term and later for other causes like BLM, local unionization efforts, and Palestine. I’ve come to the conclusion that unless the cause you are protesting for is local, it does very little in the long run. I’ve become burned out and disillusioned in working so hard to have so little come of it, so I just don’t bother anymore.
It doesn’t help matters that I don’t associate with any of the leftist groups I used to protest with anymore when they decided that opposing Harris because of her support of Israel was more important than opposing Trump’s fascism.
Trump is making deals with Putin, China, N. Korea etc. Deals for himself. Though they will almost certainly backfire on him. And for sure the USA and rest of the world.