Tesla Takedown - how I think about it

TeslaTakedown (#TeslaTakedown) events occur nationwide. I put those in the MSP metro region on the nokings.kateva.org calendar.

The TeslaTakedowns are a legal and peaceful response to the catastrophe of Elon Musk. They are not a perfect response however. Tesla auto retailers and workers don't deserve to suffer for Musk's crimes. This is how I think about the movement.

What is Musk doing that threatens America, Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Ukraine and pretty much everyone else not living under Putin?

1. Corruption: buying votes, conflicts of interest, funding Trump corruption

2. Breaking the constitution: Laws are for the little people, not for the Kings and Barons.

3. Breaking government: Careless and cruel destruction of American science, government services, and governance. 

4. Putting Tesla dealers and workers in harms’ way.

Musk is unconstrained by the rules of government employment. The weakness of the American state means he has only one potential vulnerability; his wealth and influence decline when Tesla's share price falls. TeslaTakedown's goal is to reduce Musk's power. If Musk had a shred of honor and integrity he would compensate Tesla dealers for the harm he has brought them. If the Tesla board respected the company they would fire Musk.

We aren't protesting because Musk is a lousy person, a liar, a coward, a bully, and a crap father.  We aren't protesting because Musk is without honor or integrity or compassion. We protest because Musk is causing great harm to America and to most of the world outside Russia and China.

No Kings: A calendar of Twin Cities (MSP) events for the resurrection of American democracy

nokings.kateva.org lists Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St Paul) metro region events supporting American constitutional democracy and governance against the Musk-Trump assault. It is updated weekly based on the sources listed on the page. Currently those are:

• 50501
• Action Network Tesla Takedown zip 55105
• Indivisible
• Mobilize.us
  
• No Voice Unheard Protest Listings
  
• Stand Up for Science

The site uses the Google Calendar platform; you can have the events show up in your Android, iOS, macOS and Windows calendars.

When the MAGA say "woke" they mean "secular humanist"

I've long wondered what the MAGA mean by "woke" and why they hate it so much.  A recent essay by the scribe of the technarchy, Noah Smith, answered my question.

Smith writes

N.S. Lyons is a popular essayist in the “national conservative” tradition...  He is well-read and well-informed ... 

In a recent essay entitled “American Strong Gods”, Lyons identifies what in my opinion is a deep truth about our current historical moment....

... Lyons believes that the end of anti-Nazism as the West’s guiding principle will pave the way for the return of morality, community, rootedness, faith, and civilizational pride ...

... the American Right views wokeness as a greater threat than the potential return of Hitler ... 

If the great threat is wokeness, then presumably it is opposed to the things Lyons praises. I don't know what wokeness is, but let me suggest, based on that list, that woke is a synonym for "secular humanist". I'll go through each of Lyons values and say whether secular humanism (and liberalism) is opposed ...

1. Morality: The MAGA are without honor, integrity, compassion or decency. Their morality is about the supremacy of wealth, the rightness of strength, and the joy of crushing enemies. But it is a morality of sort and it's very different from secular humanism. Secular humanist morality is much closer to traditional Christian thought but with a primary focus on people.  Opposed.
2. Community: Libs (sec hum variant) are more concerned with individual freedom and tolerance than with tribe or community.  Somewhat opposed.
3. Rootedness: Perplexity tells me that by this the MAGA mean "historic and cultural heritage". Like statues to slaveholders. Myths and stories, many untrue. Secular humanists favor truth and reality - albeit with the knowledge that humans need stories and untrue stories may facilitate less terrible behavior. Opposed with caveat.
4. Faith. Secular humanists tend to be agnostic or atheistic and favor people over religious belief. Opposed.
5. Civilizational pride: Similar to rootedness. Again, myths and stories, much omitted. No slavery, no genocides, no slaughters, no crimes. Again, secular humanists favor truth and reality. Opposed

The shoe fits. When MAGA speak of "woke" they mean "secular humanist", which they probably consider the same as Lib. They are correct to say "woke" (secular humanist) is the enemy.

Project 2025 - the Perplexity Summary

I don't have the patience to dig through Project 2025. I was hoping a journalist I follow would do an opinion-free overview but I haven't seen one. So I asked Perplexity Deep Research to extract themes. I italicized the ones that I have not seen discussed very much. It does not seem to be an expression of a coherent ideology; rather it seems to be a political document collecting opinions of powerful individuals. A lot of it is about education and schools.

• Administrative state: Dissolve Education, EPA and Homeland Security.
• Defund Head Start.
• HHS gets education
• Dept of Education funds go to school vouchers
• Seed conservatives throughout the civil service
• Put the FBI and DOJ under presidential control. Use National Guard for immigration enforcement.
• Flat tax and corporate tax cut
• Eliminate overtime pay rules, weaken NRLB, relax OSHA rules.
• Promote fossil fuel industries by reducing environmental regulations. Reverse carbon emission regulations, promote Arctic drilling
• Reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing (PDB claims 2025 is internally inconsistent about tariffs vs free trade).
• Restrict abortion by banning medication mail and defund Planned Parenthood
• Rescind LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination rules in healthcare and foster care.
• End civil rights enforcement in schools
• End Title 1 funding (money for schools with high percentage of low income students)
• End Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IEPs, transition services, least restrictive environment etc). There is no federal replacement noted so presumably this all goes to the states.
• Defund NPR and PBS
• Pornography restrictions
• Ban TikTok, ban Confucius Institutes, block Chinese critical sector investments
• Defund climate science, downsize NOAA
• Privatize National Flood Insurance Program
• Reinstate border wall

The full perplexity report includes critiques of these measures. I hadn't wanted those but LLMs have a "mind of their own" as they say. Apparently LLMs think Project 2025 is kind of dumb. 

As a certified squishy Lib I can see the logic of some of them. The weirdest parts are the trans and porn obsessions. The funniest part is the TikTok ban. The fossil fuel thing wins "most insane". The cruelest part of 2025 may be removing support for persons with cognitive disabilities.

Dramatic cuts to science research and the antivaxx movement don't seem to be coming from Project 2025, those may be a Musk/Trump thing. Greenland/Canada also seems to be a Musk/Trump obsession.