BY HANK REICHMAN
Today I attended one of the over 275 “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations outside of DOGE Dictator Elon Musk’s dealerships nationwide. This one was on Fourth Street in Berkeley, California, where at its height I would estimate some 800-1000 people gathered to voice our outrage at the ongoing Republican coup. It was a spirited crowd with people of all ages. I took a few pictures and thought readers of this blog might be inspired by them, especially as we in the higher ed community prepare for our own mass actions on April 8 and April 17.
Here are a few shots of the crowd:
Here are some of the clever signs displayed:
Bernie was present, at least in spirit (or cardboard):
And last, but not least, this sign perfectly encapsulates my own view of monarchy:
Contributing editor Hank Reichman is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay; former AAUP vice-president and chair of the AAUP Foundation; and from 2012-2021 Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. His book, The Future of Academic Freedom, based in part on posts to this blog, was published in 2019. His Understanding Academic Freedom was published in October, 2021; a second edition came out this month.
The simplest slogan and my favorite: F-ELON
I love the approach you took with this subject—very insightful.
Professor Reichman offers pictures of an anti-Tesla demonstration to inspire academics. But does it really? Do pictures of childish slogans and references to Hitler and Nazism actually inspire blog readers, you know, the learned people with above average intelligence?
Or does the sheer stupidity of these protests jump out at rational readers? That is, does the disconnect between the purported goal of hurting Republicans through Elon Musk and the inverted reality of who the protests actually hurt resonate with educated readers?
One need only look at the true victims of these attacks on Tesla dealerships and Tesla owners to see the gigantic flaw in these inane protests. Tellingly, the juvenile temper tantrums of world-wide protesters and yes, some vandals, yield a result quite contrary to their supposed goal.
Let us count some of the ways this vacuous protest and others across the country miss its mark:
1) It hurts Tesla owners who believe in protecting the environment and who may, in fact, lean more Democrat than Republican.
2) It hurts innocent Tesla factory workers whose jobs may suffer.
3) It hurts innocent non-partisan Tesla dealership employees and other American business employees who are a part of the auto supply chain as well as the financial credit world employees.
4) It universally hurts all workers with pension plans, 401ks, and IRAs where Tesla stock is included.
5) Who doesn’t it hurt? It doesn’t hurt Elon Musk, a man who can easily absorb the financial hit.
Bottom line:
Unhinged theater rarely persuades; and it is truly a shame that Professor Reichman lends his gravitas here to such a counter-productive tactic.
These protests are nothing more than mere emotional outbursts. They are populated by people who cannot connect the dots… and, sorely, need a course in Critical Thinking and Logic 101.