so smug as she suggests climate activists volunteer at her NGO instead!

  • regul [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    > living in Portland

    > driving

    ISHYGDDT

  • sexywheat [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    I'm really torn on this deflating tires trend. On one hand, it's a relatively harmless thing that activists can do (provided they're just deflating them and not slashing them). It raises awareness (as if we need to do that still), and allows people to feel like they're actually themselves doing something to help address climate change.

    On the other hand, I cannot help but think that the logical conclusion to these actions is that the public is just going to hate climate activists even more than they already do (muh convenience! muh way of life!) and result in the exact opposite intended effect and turn members of the public against climate action.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        That's really dumb. Threatening people not to buy cars is like threatening people not to breath air. It's not really a choice if you live in America.

          • Frank [he/him, he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Yes. Influencing people to make climate conscious decisions will surely reduce their carbon footprint. By changing consumer spending habits we can save the planet.

            Wait.

            Wait.

            Someone just slipped me a note.

            Turns out that's actually pointless lib shit.

            At least back in the 90s people just torched entire SUV dealerships instead of harassing random civlians.

              • Frank [he/him, he/him]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Yeah actually no, because now you're committing serious property crimes for no useful purpose

                Going to jail for masturbatory vandalism isn't praxis, it's just stupid and an indication that you're more interested in the appearance of action then actually doing something useful.

                This doesn't even rise to the level of Propaganda of the Deed, and most of the left decided a century ago that Propaganda of the Deed was at best useless and at worst counterproductive.

                Getting even a single SUV off the streets in your neighborhood is a win either way.

                I assure you it is not, it will not measurably effect global warming, and all you'll accomplish is being thrown in jail, and maybe putting vulnerable people in danger because you destroyed their car because you decided that it was too big for them.

                  • Shoegazer [he/him]
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    2 years ago

                    SUVs are pretty ubiquitous in the US. It’s not like Europe where it’s considered luxury, for the most part.

                  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    Protip - Even people with big SUVs are one paycheck away from poverty. Or maybe they have like six kids, you don't know. Terrorizing random individuals is not good praxis.

                    I used to volunteer for Toys for Tots and people would come by in "luxury" cars all the time. And we'd be all snide and shit about it "Oh they're just scamming the system look at their nice car!" until one of the people who had been there for a while yelled at us and explained that people lose their job or have a medical crisis and then the car is all they have, and they can't afford to get rid of it.

                    Idk why you decided that people with jeeps and subarus and tahoes are the haute bourgeoisie and deserve the terror but you really need to re-think this.

                • Shoegazer [he/him]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  It makes liberals mad so it’s not useless :gigachad-hd:

                  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    And if you magically disintegrated every large SUV on the planet the world would still be dying.

                    What ‘actually useful’ things can anyone do?

                    Thermite is literally just rusted iron mixed with powdered aluminum, but the result will burn holes straight through the strongest steel on the planet. Use your imagination.

        • corgiwithalaptop [any, love/loves]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Not just cars in general, I see your point there, but particularly big ones. Like, if you live in a city with decent enough public transit and are a family of, say, 3 - you don't need that F150 really, do you? That SUV? That 8 foot tall military-looking van? Sure, maybe it'll help with groceries, but unless you're hauling stuff for work, you don't need something that big and gas guzzling.

          • Ligma_Male [comrade/them]
            ·
            2 years ago

            luxury SUVs in europe are 100% fair game. stop licking boot.

            if some piece of shit is driving a 150,000 euro SUV they can afford anything we could do to their property.

              • Ligma_Male [comrade/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                I don’t know about Portland but most of these protests are happening in European cities with excellent public transport networks.

                You’re assuming that the person in question lives within the city rather than having to drive from a rural area. The city I work in has an okay public transportation system if I actually lived in it.

                come on bruh

          • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Portland has good public transportation and the only "rural" areas are hundreds of miles away. This innocent commuter you've invented doesn't exist.

              • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
                ·
                2 years ago

                Damn seems like great incentive to get a car that's not a gas guzzler

                  • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    2 years ago

                    But the vast majority of new vehicles produced are SUVs and trucks.

                    This is not a situation that was handed down by God, it's this way because Americans are almost universally idiot parasite scum who want their status symbol treats.

                    What’s your solution then?

                    Idk, starve? I don't care about the suffering of Westerners. There is no salvation coming for the US in any scenario.

                      • Frank [he/him, he/him]
                        ·
                        2 years ago

                        Yeah, this is extremely dumb. If you're going to slash tires go slash the tires of a gas tanker or something. Tormenting individual people is stupid and doesn't accomplish anything but giving you an illusion that you're contributing.

                      • Parzivus [any]
                        ·
                        edit-2
                        2 years ago

                        Phrenology but based because it’s against the west

                        this but unironically. Jungle gang

                      • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
                        ·
                        2 years ago

                        Phrenology but based because it’s against the west.

                        That's right, analyzing the national character of the most parasitic nation on Earth is actually race science. It's not possible to analyze Americans' class interests or patterns of action because that would be racism.

                        All I want is for people to actually do the reading instead of being the same as libs in your thought patterns but with correct opinions.

                        What would you recommend, specifically, and how does it relate to the current topic?

                      • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
                        ·
                        2 years ago

                        You mean like analyzing the material conditions and class character of the American people?

                • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  Cool but tons of SUV's are less pollutant and more efficient than smaller sedans, lol :maduro-coffee:

                  • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    2 years ago

                    Most SUVs released this year that aren't electric have dogshit mileage that barely passes 20 MPG.

                    I have no idea why you would believe this except to excuse your own consumption lol.

                    https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byclass/Standard_SUV_4WD2022.shtml

                    • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
                      ·
                      2 years ago

                      Click through the different years and vehicles on your own link and see that small and standard SUV's are exactly on par or better than large and mid-sized cars from the same year. The distribution of emissions per car type would look a lot like this if you graphed it, again, making targeting SUV's pretty ineffective, even if giving flat tires was effective, which it isn't.

                      I have no idea why you would believe this except to excuse your own consumption lol.

                      Believing the truth, very rare online sometimes. And my consumption? Sure, yeah, I drive a hybrid SUV that has the storage and ride height that I need to take it camping on the backroads in my area. I bought a vehicle that met my needs, even if terminally online hermits decided it was inexcusable.

                      • Redbolshevik2 [he/him]
                        ·
                        edit-2
                        2 years ago

                        Oh so the very best and smallest SUVs are on par with the very worst normal person cars.

                        And yes I can feel your burning passion for the truth from here. No self-serving detected.

                        • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
                          ·
                          2 years ago

                          Oh so the very best and smallest SUVs are on par with the very worst normal person cars.

                          So you agree that lots of SUV's are better than lots cars? :blob-no-thoughts:

              • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                the article is about portland. the title of the post explictly says portland. the comments are about portland and urban europe. maybe it is you that is trying hard to make this about something no one else is talking about--randomly targeting poor workers in rural areas--for some reason.

                  • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    if you're going to "specifically" talk about the movement in "general", you, specifically, might want to find out where, generally, this activism is happening and not specifically invent details out of thin air to generally get mad about.... or maybe don't act baffled why no one else is generally following your specific logic.

            • Frank [he/him, he/him]
              ·
              2 years ago

              the only “rural” areas are hundreds of miles away

              Lol no bruh. There's farmland like 10mi from the city center.

        • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          And btw many SUV's - the exact type of car this group has targeted in my city here in Canada - are more efficient and less pollutant than sedans. Find one of those emission calculator and you can see that using "SUV or not" is a terrible and cringe way to target vehicles you think are bad for the environment

            • very_poggers_gay [they/them]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Click through some here. Small and standard SUV's are about on par with large and mid-size sedans, many times significantly better.

              Here's some 2020 Fords, for what it's worth. These XR offshoots are ideologically flimsy, at best. This anti-SUV group is like "big car = bad", and it isn't hard to find out how incomplete that logic is. Most of their work is just convincing working class people to target working class people in hopes of changing minds of elites? lol

    • StewartCopelandsDad [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Slashed tires is a $100 tow and an $800 bill so I'd be mad, deflated is ten minutes with the compressor in my trunk so idc. Think more and more cars are coming with a compressor instead of a spare.

      I don't think this kind of direct action will engender public support - but isn't the whole point to force elected officials to do stuff? IMO most direct action doesn't convince anybody, it either is good directly (burning police stations) or forces elected officials to e.g. take down a statue or we're gonna keep fucking it up and and making you look bad.

      • keepcarrot [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I think it's supposed to force people away from cars generally? idk

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I think they didn't think it through at all and are just doing stupid individual action so they can feel like they're helping. If they actually thought about it they'd be targetting gas tankers or something.

    • BatCountryMusicFan [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      I don't think it's op really, but it's definitely an ineffective tactic. A handful of deflated tires out of god knows how many thousands in any given city is not going to push people away from buying / driving cars. It's also not putting any pressure on car manufacturers to stop making SUVs. Hell if anything it's playing into Dems new wE muSt FuND tHe pOLicE crusade.

      But also who the fuck cares do what thou wilt. Climate change isn't going to get addressed in the US / Europe anyway and it's not hurting anyone. Plus it probably at least feels good to take some kind of action.

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Like a lot of things, it depends on if you're doing it as a lone wolf or as part of a bigger movement. A lot of people slashing the tires on SUVs is a protest, one person doing it is a dick.

  • D61 [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Pretty sure the tires weren't slashed.

    And holy fuck, how are you gonna have an SUV and not a portable electric air compressor.

    • abc [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      And holy fuck, how are you gonna have an SUV and not a portable electric air compressor.

      lol in my experience, most people with SUVs absolutely do not take care of their cars themselves - they rely on services like AAA. you don't need an air compressor or need to know how to jump a battery if you can always call someone else to do it :think-about-it:

      • keepcarrot [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        How on earth do I know any of these things despite not owning a car (or SUV)?

  • cawsby [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Portland going back to the 1990's.

    Animal/Earth Liberation Front.

  • barrbaric [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Needing AAA to come reinflate your tires, jesus christ. Is there not a gas station within 5 blocks you could drive to and reinflate it yourself?

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      No. Where I live most gas stations don't have air anymore and the ones that do are broken.