For anybody who might be less experienced with protest movements or activism who wants to get involved, it's absolutely crucial to practice good opsec. The link below is a great resource which I recommend looking through even if you're a more experienced activist or have been involved in protest movements before. Most of us in America have never faced a government as openly hostile and adversarial before as we do now.
Unfortunately, though, there is a long history of people (usually environmentalists) getting charged with domestic terrorism for property damage related crimes. I can't find the case I'm looking for, but I thought I remember somebody receiving a life sentence for environmentally-motivated arsons. There are plenty of cases where people were charged with terrorism and sentenced to more than ten years though.
Also, as I'm sure most people know, there's a long history of Federal law enforcement illegally surveilling and targeting those on the left even if the protests and movements they're involved with are nonviolent. I hope we'll be seeing lots of articles like the one below if we ever get the Inspectors General back and get some accountability, but I fear the widespread illegality and refusal to adhere to records laws prevalent in this regime will make it harder to hold them to account, which of course is the point.
All excellent points, thanks for this. Yes, the ELF was notably charged with domestic terror, and lots of direct action left green groups and individuals as well; a similar effort to snuff out the efforts by force.
And thanks for the links, especially the guide to good opsec. Use Signal folks, (just be careful who you add to the group chat lol).
Even if you are opposed to Musk/Trump/etc. politics, targeting people who once bought Tesla's and people who once started Tesla dealerships is morally wrong. It is also dumb and it clearly backfires, giving those that oppose Musk's political role lots of ammunition and options to move the discussion away from what Musk is doing politically.
How Trump went from GOP politicians calling him a perpetrator (shortly after Jan 6, see McConnel's Senate speech) to being the victim of whatever was thrown at him (mostly legal) was extremely effective (if planned that way, political genius) and it may have won him the election.
So, don't buy a Tesla, or sell your Tesla (or scrap it if money is not a problem). But don't attack Tesla cars and don't attack Tesla dealerships. It turns Musk's image to 'victim'. Victims deserve and get sympathy. And you make innocent victims instead. Doubly wrong. Very dumb.
This is just the mask coming off a state that has always been rapacious in its defense of property over the wellbeing of working people, and the inevitable blowback of empire where the techniques used by comprador elites to exploit their fellow citizens in the neocolonial foreign periphery now return to the metropole at the cost of its citizenry.
I'm newly disillusioned whenever I'm reminded that perception is the engine on which Silicon Valley and Wall Street run. It's a culture that breeds nostrum peddlers and soothsayers.
“New”
For anybody who might be less experienced with protest movements or activism who wants to get involved, it's absolutely crucial to practice good opsec. The link below is a great resource which I recommend looking through even if you're a more experienced activist or have been involved in protest movements before. Most of us in America have never faced a government as openly hostile and adversarial before as we do now.
https://ssd.eff.org/playlist/activist-or-protester
Unfortunately, though, there is a long history of people (usually environmentalists) getting charged with domestic terrorism for property damage related crimes. I can't find the case I'm looking for, but I thought I remember somebody receiving a life sentence for environmentally-motivated arsons. There are plenty of cases where people were charged with terrorism and sentenced to more than ten years though.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/Technology/story?id=3204939&page=1
Also, as I'm sure most people know, there's a long history of Federal law enforcement illegally surveilling and targeting those on the left even if the protests and movements they're involved with are nonviolent. I hope we'll be seeing lots of articles like the one below if we ever get the Inspectors General back and get some accountability, but I fear the widespread illegality and refusal to adhere to records laws prevalent in this regime will make it harder to hold them to account, which of course is the point.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/20/AR2010092003100.html?hpid=topnews
All excellent points, thanks for this. Yes, the ELF was notably charged with domestic terror, and lots of direct action left green groups and individuals as well; a similar effort to snuff out the efforts by force.
And thanks for the links, especially the guide to good opsec. Use Signal folks, (just be careful who you add to the group chat lol).
Even if you are opposed to Musk/Trump/etc. politics, targeting people who once bought Tesla's and people who once started Tesla dealerships is morally wrong. It is also dumb and it clearly backfires, giving those that oppose Musk's political role lots of ammunition and options to move the discussion away from what Musk is doing politically.
How Trump went from GOP politicians calling him a perpetrator (shortly after Jan 6, see McConnel's Senate speech) to being the victim of whatever was thrown at him (mostly legal) was extremely effective (if planned that way, political genius) and it may have won him the election.
So, don't buy a Tesla, or sell your Tesla (or scrap it if money is not a problem). But don't attack Tesla cars and don't attack Tesla dealerships. It turns Musk's image to 'victim'. Victims deserve and get sympathy. And you make innocent victims instead. Doubly wrong. Very dumb.
Thank you for capturing the moment so eloquently. Surreal yet unsurprising indeed. I am oddly encouraged by the kids pretending to blow up Tesla's.
P.S. Typo: Ed Niedermeyer, not Eric.
Cheers — and ack, sorry Ed! No idea where an Eric came from here
This is just the mask coming off a state that has always been rapacious in its defense of property over the wellbeing of working people, and the inevitable blowback of empire where the techniques used by comprador elites to exploit their fellow citizens in the neocolonial foreign periphery now return to the metropole at the cost of its citizenry.
As we have sown, so shall we reap …
I'm newly disillusioned whenever I'm reminded that perception is the engine on which Silicon Valley and Wall Street run. It's a culture that breeds nostrum peddlers and soothsayers.