Posted on 04/11/2022 6:58:51 PM PDT by Subcutaneous Fishstick Blues
A left-wing environmental activist group proposed deflating the tires of sports utility vehicles as a radical act of protest against climate change.
Adbusters, an activist group that describes itself as a “collective of artists, designers, writers, musicians, poets, punks, philosophers and wild hearts has been smashing ads, fighting corruption and speaking truth to power,” and has been tied to the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, called for activists to deflate SUV tires in a Twitter thread on Wednesday.
“So here’s what we do: Wedge gravel in the tire valves, leaflet the SUV to let them know the tires are flat and why it was done, and walk away,” the organization wrote. “It’s that simple. If we organize, we can hit enough SUVs in particular neighborhoods to spark reporting and spread the metameme. We do this neighbourhood-at-a-time to make the biggest splash. Organize a crew (off of any traceable apps) and make leaflets that lay out the case for climate action. The mission is not to win individual converts at this point, but to engender a systemic aversion to SUVs. Climate change is the biggest crisis we’ve faced as a species, and we are failing the test at every step. It is time for us to carefully escalate our methods in a non-violent manner and convey the seriousness of this crisis in tangible ways.”
“A flat tire is non-violent,” Adbusters continued. “There is no property damage. But it is a huge pain in the a**. We’ve seen this method succeed in Sweden, and have initial success in the UK with [Tyre Extinguishers] (articles warning off SUV purchases at risk of being targeted). Time to go global. Targeting SUVs is good way to hit the automotive industry where it hurts. SUV sales are playing a massive role in the expansion of the auto industry, both as a percentage of global market share and in total numbers. And that increase is setting the climate back massively.”
The group recommended targeting wealthy areas, to begin with, saying that its goal “isn’t to disrupt workers,” and to avoid targeting vehicles that have disabled stickers or handicap hangers.
Adbusters also posted a sample leaflet for activists to place on the windshields of vehicles they target.
“Your tires are flat,” the leaflet reads. “It isn’t personal. SUVs are disproportionately fueling the climate crisis. They’re the 2nd-largest contributor to increasing CO2 emissions since 2010. And they’re totally unnecessary. The climate crisis is spiraling out of control, making drastic action necessary. So we deflated your tires. Walk, bike, take public transit if you have to. But it’s time to end our reliance on these gas-guzzling behemoths.”
Critics on Twitter blasted the group, noting that the idea is ineffective, criminal, and possibly dangerous.
“[I’m] sure ruining someone’s day is a great way to make them agree with you,” one user wrote.
“Most people don’t carry a tire pump. They’re going to call a tow truck to either tow them because they don’t know the tire is still good or to reinflate the tire. The tow truck is way less efficient, burning fuel and unnecessary. They’re now p***** off and way less sympathetic,” wrote another.
“Malicious vandalism comes with occupational hazards,” a user tweeted.
“Three days in and Twitter is like yeah, encouraging property damage is totes fine,” another critic wrote.
“@TwitterSafety, pretty sure this is illegal,” said another.
Terrorists.
I propose deflating left-wing activists.
With lead, I hope.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4054081/posts
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Environmental group calls for deflating tires of SUVs to combat climate change: target ‘wealthy areas’
04/11/2022 8:14:59 AM PDT · by PROCON · 61 replies
foxbusiness.com ^ | April 10, 2022 | Bradford Betz
Left wing activists can’t tell the difference between a EV and a regular gasoline powered vehicle from looking at the outside of the car. I’ll bet you that they deflate a lot of EV tires by mistake. They will probably key the paint while they are at it.
I don’t know about you, flat tires really hurts my gas mileage .... the amount of exhaust is really suffocating
Reliable vote to acquit if I’m on that jury.
Give them a penny for their thoughts if you catch them in the act; wedge a penny up their nose.
And if the soy boy left-wing activist is caught in the act by the vehicle owner who happens to be 6’6” and 250lbs, what does the left-wing activist think is going to happen?
Some pranks are better left to the professionals...
Deflating tires is an annoyance and meant only to cause consternation, but to whom, is still uncertain.
Trespassing, criminal mischief, vandalism, vandalism/with intent to cause harm. If I owned an SUV and found someone doing this I'd be committing a few felonies myself.
Get caught, get shot.
And how much non-”green” energy will be expended in running the air compressors to re-inflate the tires?
I sense some SUV-ness envy.
This will work really well until one of them gets shot. 🙄
Oh, okay. Next time I’ll have to search fewer words from the headline.
I see them do that to my SUV they won’t be walking away and will spend the rest of their life using a cane.
But putting a sticker on a gas pump lands you in jail.
I predict an uptick in trunk monkey sales.
*****
Try it. You intentionally damage a vehicle.
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