If you get overwhelmed with stimulus in general headphones - maybe just in one ear - that don’t block outside noise but can play something familiar might help.

Just gives you something to focus on that IS comfortable when other aspects might not be. Music or meditation or podcast or whatever is familiar reassuring. Also battery backup.

I am interested in protest but not in violence so made a cloth sash that says “peaceful protest” on one side and “nonviolence” on the other. Just to help keep myself identifiable as someone who is not looking for a fight.

Do you have a free email (gmail alternative) suggestion?

Although more people than ever are taking estrogen and testosterone - either age related or because they are transitioning. I would imagine there could be some research done on how introducing those things results in changes compared to a control group of folks who are similar and don’t take them.

I mean I know so little that I don’t even know how much I don’t know. There is just a lot of reluctance to even ask questions for fear of being called sexist, and I am a fan of scientific curiosity.

I’m sorry. I also feel anger and fear. I am desperately looking for ways to take action that are at least potentially effective, even if there is risk and personal cost to myself. I do not feel like a “moderate”.

I also do not want to lose sight of my own value system. Trump is full of vengeful hate. I would rather be a good person who got killed trying to make things better than be still alive but consumed with vengeful hate / hurting other people.

I am not religious - but I am a pacifist at heart. The people I admire most are folks who brought about massive change through non violent means - not people who won wars.

And honestly even if the political stuff all suddenly became ok (it won’t) the billions of people who will die from climate change is inevitable- so that gives me some perspective. Like we are ALL going to die. What is the best I can do with the time I have?

I do not have answers. Maybe - as you suggest - everything I do will be ineffective. I share your fear and dread, but if I can’t continue to value love over hate then I have already lost.

And I would encourage avoiding collateral damage whenever possible.

Or maybe activist can focus on causing damage to directly to Musk. Like maybe we should all always try to avoid collateral damage when we can.

Not that hard to do.

Agree: Musk is the one hurting Tesla owners

Agree: US Government doesn’t care about collateral damage

I just would encourage folks who want to hurt Musk to focus on action that hurts Musk. Causing collateral damage is not fair or helpful - best to avoid it whenever possible.

At this point they’d get almost nothing for it - certainly not enough to buy a replacement car.

I’m just saying it helps to carefully target the people you actually are trying to hurt. It doesn’t help a movement if they start hurting bystanders.

I would 100% go if I knew all my fellow protesters were only going to protest.

Lots of people are very angry- which is valid and I get it - but personally I am not interested in violence or destruction of property. It’s hard to know if those things will be part of a protest or not.

I have gone and will go to protests, but fear that they will turn chaotic makes me less likely to go. Also not at all convinced that small ones are effective, and big ones are rare.

So why would someone lack empathy?

Like if there is a 4 year old whose parents hit them - then they go to school and hit other kids. Is the 4 year old evil? Or were they taught that behavior?

I’m not saying that adults are 4 years old and aren’t responsible for their actions, I’m just saying that some people have VERY different opportunities than you and I have had.

People are complicated, but my (liberal) values are exactly what one would expect me to have if you look at my upbringing and education. If I had a different education and upbringing I almost certainly would have different values.

Not fun to admit, but true.

I prefer to call actions bad rather than people. People are pretty complicated, and it’s not a level playing field.

What if a person bought a Tesla 10 years ago (before folks knew what an asshole Musk was) to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Do you think that person deserves to have their car vandalized?

You sound really angry.

Action taken based on anger and hatred is different than action motivated by compassion and morality.

I am 100% in support of boycotting Tesla.

Just if someone bought a Tesla as their personal vehicle 10 years ago because they wanted an environmentally friendly car - before we knew what an asshole Musk was - I don’t think they deserve to have their personal property damaged/destroyed.

Valid.

So you are all in with “us vs them” politics.

Yay my team and fuck the other guys they suck.

Definitely this was Trumps takeaway. He broke the law his first term many times with little or no consequence so of course he is doubling down.

Most people I know keep a car for 10+ years. The Thai thing was like six years ago and he wasn’t on my radar before then.

This is SUPER helpful and thoughtful and I thank you.

Like when we start doing research in a nuanced and scientific way then the folks who aren’t part of the scientific community can very easily “wildly gesture” racism and say “it’s science”.

So it is not that there aren’t differences, it’s that if we aren’t very careful then valid research can get inaccurately used to support racism/sexism.

I don’t remember the details but I feel like way back the president of Harvard said something about sex differences and got fired and what he said didn’t seem incorrect to me. It really bothered me. But maybe it was more “in a leadership position you need to be aware of how people will twist your words” than “what you said was true but we want to pretend it’s not”.

Do you feel like calling a whole group “these people” is a helpful approach?

Lots of people aren’t online as much as you and I are. They might have bought an EV for environmental reasons 10 years ago without even noticing who owned the company.