Economic Blackout (Feb. 28)

[P.D.X.]

it's not even about tanking anything per se, it's more about depriving funds to the systems that funnel them to the bad guys

[mister d]

Right, but I'm saying the point of a one day protest isn't to enact that, its to show you could. It does get noticed because any revenue trend that isn't up-up-up is noticed.

[P.D.X.]

ah, a demonstration of potential change rather than actual change

[mister d]

Yes? You're telling Target or whoever to reverse what they did, threatening others what will happen if they do it and rewarding the places that haven't. Prety much the only power we have right now.

[P.D.X.]

you don't think changing spending habits for more than a day would be more powerful?

[Steve of phpBB]

you don't think changing spending habits for more than a day would be more powerful?

Does it have to be either or?

Yes? You're telling Target or whoever to reverse what they did, threatening others what will happen if they do it and rewarding the places that haven't. Pretty much the only power we have right now.

This. And this gets to the concern I raised way earlier. It can be counterproductive to make a move that says "fear my power" if your power is weak.

(Which, again, is different from physical demonstrations.)

[mister d]

you don't think changing spending habits for more than a day would be more powerful?

Sure, but I wouldn't say that makes a one day act "silly". Any level of organization at this stage is a positive.

[P.D.X.]

I also said it was better than nothing.

But I do see it as 'silly' because it's such a low hurdle and can convince people they're actually accomplishing something when there hasn't been any real inconvenience test at all. It's more performative than substantial, and if you think that will lead to change then we just have differing opinions.

I do think the bad guys are banking on the fact that most Americans will accept authoritarianism as long as it doesn't affect their daily comforts.

[mister d]

I don't think we disagree much here, but my general lack of faith in people means that even committing to a one day shared inconvenience is promising.

[P.D.X.]

Agreed!

[Steve of phpBB]

https://bsky.app/profile/melissjpeltier ... tgp3xu7s2g

(Apparently this in only visible to Bluesky users and you have to click on it - but it's a list of various corporate targets and the times they are trying to target them.)

[Steve of phpBB]

[HaulCitgo]

I think it shows that people are willing to act, which is better than the usual state of our world where posting is civil disobedience.

My fear is that it will show that only a tiny number of people are willing to act.

Not sure how much you can take from the numbers acting, because if it wasn’t for this thread, I wouldn’t have known about it.

I guess I should have been less narrow - my fear is that it will show that only a tiny number of people are going to act. That involves both difficulty reaching people and then those people being willing to do something noticeable.

400+ people at the Tesla Takedown protest at the only dealership in the area yesterday, the first one in the area, including me. I could see people already lined up from over half a mile away when I turned on the street about five minutes before the official start time. At its peak, the police closed an entrance to a shopping center (one of several) for safety reasons due to the line of protestors stretching about one-fifth of a mile. Lots of people driving by with support of honking/waving/thumbs up, etc. I counted 20 people who gave a middle finger salute over the two hours, as well as a couple other advertised opposing opinions.

Before I went, my wife told me she had talked with our daughter about me going. She said she was laughing during the conversation and our daughter asked if she was laughing at me. My wife explained that she was proud of me for going, especially because I was setting aside much of myself to go, specifically that I was willing to go surround myself with a bunch of strangers in spite of the fact that I generally hate people.

Regarding what I bolded: More people will act if you act.

Meant to say that I respect this action. I learned something from my one day boycott.

[DSafetyGuy]

400+ people at the Tesla Takedown protest at the only dealership in the area yesterday, the first one in the area, including me. I could see people already lined up from over half a mile away when I turned on the street about five minutes before the official start time. At its peak, the police closed an entrance to a shopping center (one of several) for safety reasons due to the line of protestors stretching about one-fifth of a mile. Lots of people driving by with support of honking/waving/thumbs up, etc. I counted 20 people who gave a middle finger salute over the two hours, as well as a couple other advertised opposing opinions.

Before I went, my wife told me she had talked with our daughter about me going. She said she was laughing during the conversation and our daughter asked if she was laughing at me. My wife explained that she was proud of me for going, especially because I was setting aside much of myself to go, specifically that I was willing to go surround myself with a bunch of strangers in spite of the fact that I generally hate people.

Regarding what I bolded: More people will act if you act.

Meant to say that I respect this action. I learned something from my one day boycott.

Thanks. Probably going again soon.

A piece of advice if any of you are considering something like this: nondescript hat/mask/sunglasses and the plainest clothes you have. With claims that vandalizing Teslas (and not other cars) is "domestic terrorism", protect yourself. And explain to others that they should, as well.

[Steve of phpBB]

400+ people at the Tesla Takedown protest at the only dealership in the area yesterday, the first one in the area, including me. I could see people already lined up from over half a mile away when I turned on the street about five minutes before the official start time. At its peak, the police closed an entrance to a shopping center (one of several) for safety reasons due to the line of protestors stretching about one-fifth of a mile. Lots of people driving by with support of honking/waving/thumbs up, etc. I counted 20 people who gave a middle finger salute over the two hours, as well as a couple other advertised opposing opinions.

Before I went, my wife told me she had talked with our daughter about me going. She said she was laughing during the conversation and our daughter asked if she was laughing at me. My wife explained that she was proud of me for going, especially because I was setting aside much of myself to go, specifically that I was willing to go surround myself with a bunch of strangers in spite of the fact that I generally hate people.

Regarding what I bolded: More people will act if you act.

Meant to say that I respect this action. I learned something from my one day boycott.

Thanks. Probably going again soon.

A piece of advice if any of you are considering something like this: nondescript hat/mask/sunglasses and the plainest clothes you have. With claims that vandalizing Teslas (and not other cars) is "domestic terrorism", protect yourself. And explain to others that they should, as well.

It's probably best to leave your phone at home. Or power it down. Also, if it comes to it, they cannot force you to provide your unlock code for your phone, but they can compel you to unlock using biometrics. I think the chances of that mattering to any of us are very slim, but be forewarned.

[The Sybian]

400+ people at the Tesla Takedown protest at the only dealership in the area yesterday, the first one in the area, including me. I could see people already lined up from over half a mile away when I turned on the street about five minutes before the official start time. At its peak, the police closed an entrance to a shopping center (one of several) for safety reasons due to the line of protestors stretching about one-fifth of a mile. Lots of people driving by with support of honking/waving/thumbs up, etc. I counted 20 people who gave a middle finger salute over the two hours, as well as a couple other advertised opposing opinions.

Before I went, my wife told me she had talked with our daughter about me going. She said she was laughing during the conversation and our daughter asked if she was laughing at me. My wife explained that she was proud of me for going, especially because I was setting aside much of myself to go, specifically that I was willing to go surround myself with a bunch of strangers in spite of the fact that I generally hate people.

Regarding what I bolded: More people will act if you act.

Meant to say that I respect this action. I learned something from my one day boycott.

Thanks. Probably going again soon.

A piece of advice if any of you are considering something like this: nondescript hat/mask/sunglasses and the plainest clothes you have. With claims that vandalizing Teslas (and not other cars) is "domestic terrorism", protect yourself. And explain to others that they should, as well.

It's probably best to leave your phone at home. Or power it down. Also, if it comes to it, they cannot force you to provide your unlock code for your phone, but they can compel you to unlock using biometrics. I think the chances of that mattering to any of us are very slim, but be forewarned.

Unfortunately. I think we are beyond "what they are allowed to do." If they can send people to El Salvadoran torture camps without due process in direct defiance of a court order, they can make you open your phone. You can try to sue, but good luck getting a lawyer to represent you since the Regime is attacking lawyers defending people's civil rights. And even if you win a judgment, who is going to enforce it? All Executive agencies are now loyal to the dictator over the Constitution or laws.

[Steve of phpBB]

400+ people at the Tesla Takedown protest at the only dealership in the area yesterday, the first one in the area, including me. I could see people already lined up from over half a mile away when I turned on the street about five minutes before the official start time. At its peak, the police closed an entrance to a shopping center (one of several) for safety reasons due to the line of protestors stretching about one-fifth of a mile. Lots of people driving by with support of honking/waving/thumbs up, etc. I counted 20 people who gave a middle finger salute over the two hours, as well as a couple other advertised opposing opinions.

Before I went, my wife told me she had talked with our daughter about me going. She said she was laughing during the conversation and our daughter asked if she was laughing at me. My wife explained that she was proud of me for going, especially because I was setting aside much of myself to go, specifically that I was willing to go surround myself with a bunch of strangers in spite of the fact that I generally hate people.

Regarding what I bolded: More people will act if you act.

Meant to say that I respect this action. I learned something from my one day boycott.

Thanks. Probably going again soon.

A piece of advice if any of you are considering something like this: nondescript hat/mask/sunglasses and the plainest clothes you have. With claims that vandalizing Teslas (and not other cars) is "domestic terrorism", protect yourself. And explain to others that they should, as well.

It's probably best to leave your phone at home. Or power it down. Also, if it comes to it, they cannot force you to provide your unlock code for your phone, but they can compel you to unlock using biometrics. I think the chances of that mattering to any of us are very slim, but be forewarned.

Unfortunately. I think we are beyond "what they are allowed to do." If they can send people to El Salvadoran torture camps without due process in direct defiance of a court order, they can make you open your phone. You can try to sue, but good luck getting a lawyer to represent you since the Regime is attacking lawyers defending people's civil rights. And even if you win a judgment, who is going to enforce it? All Executive agencies are now loyal to the dictator over the Constitution or laws.

I think we're disconnecting here. If your phone needs a code to open, they can demand that you key it in or tell them, but they cannot exactly "force" you to do it. And you would not need to sue; it would be them suing to get an order compelling you to give the code.

As a practical matter, the cops could always threaten you or physically beat you if you refuse. I doubt they'd go that far against rich white guys who were just at a protest, but who knows.

[P.D.X.]

Why would a cop want to get in your phone at a protest?

[The Sybian]

I think we're disconnecting here. If your phone needs a code to open, they can demand that you key it in or tell them, but they cannot exactly "force" you to do it. And you would not need to sue; it would be them suing to get an order compelling you to give the code.

As a practical matter, the cops could always threaten you or physically beat you if you refuse. I doubt they'd go that far against rich white guys who were just at a protest, but who knows.

I was thinking more of federal agents or the FBI. And to answer PDX, Trump and Bondi have labeled Tesla protesters as terrorists (much like Tren de Aragua) and are saying they will treat them as terrorists. Not a far step to declare a Tesla protester as a terrorists and declare they don't deserve due process. We aren't there yet, but what is stopping them? Fun side note, since Tesla protests are labeled as terrorism, the US government is paying Tesla for damaged vehicles under some post-9/11 law to help insurance companies with claims due to 9/11.

[DSafetyGuy]

At the very least, leave your phone and your wallet in the car. You should have your location services turned off for your battery life, anyway.

[Steve of phpBB]

[mister d]

Stock is getting its shit kicked in too. Down 41% from a year ago, almost 23% from end of 2024.

[Steve of phpBB]

Only 13000 sales that weren’t the Model 3 or Y. Lol.

[The Sybian]

A couple weeks ago I saw something on social media about boycotting Target. I wasn't sure why, so I read the comments. Hilarious that it seems both sides are boycotting Target. Half the comments were saying Target is caving to Trump and half were upset that Target lets men in the women's bathroom.

Side note since we are talking about Target. Went into one for the first time in a long time (maybe a year), not sure if it was because I went 5 minutes after they opened, but it was fucking bizarre. I was about the only customer shopping, and the floor was fucking swarming with employees filling online shopping orders. Had to be close to 50. And the parking lot had tons of spots marked for online shoppers where the employees bring their order to the car.

[Steve of phpBB]

A couple weeks ago I saw something on social media about boycotting Target. I wasn't sure why, so I read the comments. Hilarious that it seems both sides are boycotting Target. Half the comments were saying Target is caving to Trump and half were upset that Target lets men in the women's bathroom.

Side note since we are talking about Target. Went into one for the first time in a long time (maybe a year), not sure if it was because I went 5 minutes after they opened, but it was fucking bizarre. I was about the only customer shopping, and the floor was fucking swarming with employees filling online shopping orders. Had to be close to 50. And the parking lot had tons of spots marked for online shoppers where the employees bring their order to the car.

Apparently Black ministers and leaders have been pushing a boycott in response to Target giving up its DEI initiative.

[Steve of phpBB]

This Saturday will be the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord ...

Now we're fighting the Red Hats instead of the Redcoats.

[DSafetyGuy]

Target is up to ten straight weeks of decreased foot traffic.