By incorporating the malleability of young minds eager to conform to the next social media craze with the volatility of Alinskyite tactics geared toward disruption, one radical activist group is proposing a not-so-subtle way to exert pressure to justify the ends of their Green agenda with “The SUV Flat Tire Challenge.”
Adbusters, which bills themselves as “an international collective” of activists utilizing various forms of expression, took to social media Wednesday to promote their latest effort at disruption. Calling it a “gentle escalation of methods” they argued that something must be done about SUVs because they are “the 2nd-largest contributor” to carbon emissions since 2010.
“So here’s what we do,” the activists proposed. “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.”
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.
It's that simple. If we organize, we can hit enough SUVs in particular neighborhoods to spark reporting and spread the metameme.
— Adbusters (@Adbusters) April 6, 2022
“It’s that simple,” they contend. “If we organize, we can hit enough SUVs in particular neighborhoods to spark reporting and spread the metameme.”
Their short-term objective is detailed as “to engender a systemic aversion to SUVs” because “we are failing the test” in addressing “the biggest crisis” that is climate change.
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.
— Adbusters (@Adbusters) April 6, 2022
In the 1971 book, “Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals,” Saul Alinsky promoted this very kind of “non-violent” tactic to shift the power paradigm.
“In the world of give and take,” Alinsky wrote, “tactics is the art of how to take and how to give. Here our concern is with the tactic of taking; how the Have-Nots can take power away from the Haves.”
Despite their insistence that they would target the wealthy, “our goal isn’t to disrupt workers – and avoid targeting vehicles with disabled stickers or hangers,” social media did not take kindly to the merest suggestion that activists would be tampering with the private property of others.
Here’s a suggestion:
Don’t touch other people’s property or you face a risk of exponentially higher levels of lead in your body than you previously had. Seriously, don’t do it.— 🐊 Tel.OS 🐊 (@telosv2) April 8, 2022
Agreed, tampering with people property, especially when trespassing is a great way to catch rapid onset lead poisoning.
— Ian Moreno (@IanMoreno77) April 10, 2022
This is a great way to meet your medical insurance deductible.
— Nuclear Herbs 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️🏅 (@NuclearHerbs) April 9, 2022
The last person near my car stole my battery. Anyone near my SUV at night is risking their life at this point.
— Capitol Hill Fox Lylanthia (@Lylanthia) April 8, 2022
Unfortunately, when dealing with radicals, direct interaction like this puts one in a lose-lose scenario. Alinsky had covered this as well writing, “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”
He added, “The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.”
As such, Adbusters responded to the “death threats” by criticizing the means by which “the wealthy” were enabled “ownership of a luxury item like an SUV.”
The wealth and privilege that enables ownership of a luxury item like an SUV is dragging the rest of the world with it into climate catastrophe. What we do matters.
If we want to stop fossil fuel use, we know where to start.
— Adbusters (@Adbusters) April 8, 2022
That’s right. If you own one of the crossovers pictured in the original post to ferry your family to school or after school activities, your “privilege” makes you as bad as a global corporation. They were called out for this absurd position as well.
whining about “death threats” while calling for property damage, harassment, increased CO2 by tow trucks to repair your damage, lost work hours, endangering in emergency situations, etc etc
it’s also false that SUVs “serve no purpose”
— 305 Latinz (@epallred) April 10, 2022
Do you not get SUV’s serva a real purpose for a lot? Some are also a work vehicles. And what about large families who cannot fit in anything else? Making people angry will not get you anywhere but inducing anger at your movement. Brilliant idea, not
— Tamara Rymer (@trymerstudio) April 11, 2022
You should do this in Texas and report back if you can
— Big Tex🇺🇸 (@aftxvet) April 9, 2022
Right?!? Especially after dark, we have special laws in this state about trespassing at night and the use of deadly force
Seriously though, DONT DO THIS in #Texas, you could get shot
— Mayor of Salome, TX (@buckeyegolfguy) April 11, 2022
Fox Business reported that they reached out to Twitter for clarity on their rules regarding “abusive behavior” that state, “You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behavior an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone else’s voice.”
Despite that policy, Adbusters has not been blocked, banned or required to delete their posting. Instead, as shown, they have been permitted to double down on their behavior.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Northeast PA with his fiancé and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- Steve Hilton says Dems will use midterm blue wall to ‘green light’ their radical agenda… and that’s ok - November 9, 2022
- ABC points to Latinos being fooled by ‘disinformation’ to explain DeSantis, GOP success in South Florida - November 9, 2022
- ‘There is an alternative’: Trump backs Rick Scott as a ‘much better’ GOP Senate leader than McConnell - November 9, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
