A removed asklemmy post complaining about vandalism of cybertrucks got removed

I had a response typed up that didn't make it under the wire, and that is annoying, so I'm posting it here

I mean, in going to respond to your question, but that edit first. Never, ever whine about votes. It doesn't do anything useful, and when you decide that it's some kind of flaw in the people doing it, it just points right back to the person whining being a doof.

Look, I don't think you realize what people are seeing.

We've got a broken capitalist system across the world, but particularly in the US. In the US we've got an actual fascist in the presidency, and then musk starts running roughshod on everything faster than legal processes can stop him.

Add to that the fact that the fascist in chief is abusing the system to make it harder to stop the bullshit, and you've got some very angry people.

Since X can't be targeted the same way, and the security around space-x is too tight, and whatever the boring company is doing is too nebulous and out of public awareness, tesla has a bullseye painted on it for direct acts of protest.

Now, is going after the vehicles already on the road a great way to disrupt and damage? No, absolutely not. If anything, it's wasteful compared to better targets that would directly hurt the company, like the attacks on charging stations and dealerships. But it is something that anyone can do when they see a tesla vehicle.

Since the cybertruck is the most glaring example of musk's arrogance, and it's got such a great surface for paint, anyone with a spray can and the ability to move quietly and quickly can apply pressure. And it is applying pressure. Every time it happens, not only does the owner have to decide exactly how much that want to support musk via tesla, anyone and everyone that sees it has to think about it as well.

Since its also non destructive, only a pricy fix that's optional, it's also a protest that limits exposure, leaving the painter to be more likely to be free later on. And, since destructive measures risk the batteries becoming a hazard, it's the safest option for everyone involved.

Yeah, if you really to fuck tesla, the real target is their offices and financial partners. But those take more coordination, more information, and the ability to get a group together in order to be effective. Not everyone striking at tesla has the freedom to travel to a location those can be found in the first place, and someone not familiar with the locations of those is at a disadvantage. So not everyone can strike where it hurts the most. But they can definitely strike at the products of the company in their own "back yard"

It is most definitely not something stirred up by a company like CA, because it's coming from the people up. Before any of it hit the news, people were discussing the tactics to use in meat space. And this kind of disruption is one of the tactics discussed. Vandalism as protest has a long standing tradition, and tends to be mildly effective, at least in spreading the idea that resistance is possible, that other people can do something.

Each of those graffitied vehicles is a highly visible message to everyone that tesla is a target, and it is one you can reach. Again, it's not ideal, and it would be better to actually organize and use the same resources to a more effective end, but it does have benefit as part of an overall decentralized campaign of disruption, protest, and resistance.

Now, as far as removing them from the fediverse, nah, dawg, not gonna happen. You may run into specific instances that have legal exposure to any fuckery from the enemy that have to remove such things, but the benefit of the fediverse is that it isn't monolithic. You can't just stop something like this by going after a single instance.

This isn't inter-class violence, the attack is at a very dangerous section of the owner class. It just means that some of the owners that aren't part of that class may be collateral damage. If the attacks on the vehicles were jamming harming the owners physically, I found be fully against it, and I strongly suggest that anyone reading this wall of text consider spreading the message that attacking vehicle owners is a poor tactic, and should be avoided entirely because it isn't a benefit. It draws the wrong kind of responses.

Graffiti, minor vandalism of dealers, attacks on tesla's properties, those are against inanimate objects. Even people otherwise opposed can overlook it as frivolous, and the general populace that isn't going to be moved to action anyway will shrug it off. But attacking people is a different story. At this stage in protest/resistance, injury or death of individual citizens just for owning a vehicle would bring retaliation at a far greater scale, and the populace at large would be alienated before it's an acceptable thing.

At some point, the general populace that just wants the status quo to come back will have to decide where they're going to stand, and pushing that button before it's obvious to them that the status quo is dead is counterproductive. So do not physically harm tesla vehicle owners. You will be hurting the cause you're trying to fight for.

Remember, the majority are not at the point where they're ready to resist and may never be. Anyone working against the fascist cause is the minority right now. The ones willing to go out and take direct action are a minority of that minority. Do not alienate the majority until it is useful.