I have seen a lot of tesla vandalism online the last few days and I’m kind of on the fence about it.
I’ve seen several examples locally here in BC, Canada.
I think totally warranted at newly purchased teslas going forward. Also it serves as a deterrent for potential future buyers.
But vandalizing a car that is a few years old I think is lame. Those driversare already being punished enough by driving something around that’s worth less than scrap.
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No, that’s just rationalizing fucking with somebody’s stuff. Your personal anger is not a moral principle.
That’s quite line in the send there bud!
Go fuck yourself.
Proles don’t harm proles
Save your potential jail time for the billionaires and landlords
This is assuming cybertruck owners are proles and not landlords and small burgers.
To the top with you
I’m reading these comments and realizing just how many assholes after on lemmy.
People on here actually justifying vandalizing someone’s property.
Oh they’re wealthy so it’s ok.
Oh commenter doesn’t like person a so it’s ok to hurt person b property.
Fucking hell people are assholes.
Yeah. Lemmy was ok for a few months after the api exodus but seems to have shrunk down to some really, um, I guess immature people? Maybe fringy angry self righteous people? I’ve been coming back less and less often and it seems to be getting worse, but there is the occasional gem and I’m never going back to the bad place.
Ya I’m glad I posted this because these responses are actually wild.
Right now, Lemmy is unfortunately full of a few dozen small, super-passionate echo chambers. People get very emotionally charged takes that can sound nonsense to anyone outside their bubble—but to them, it’s considered the absolute reality of the situation
I haven’t actually seen a thread that proves this more than this one. These people are ok with fucking up other normie people’s shit.
Guys this war isn’t amongst ourselves. You figured out how to post on lemmy. You should be way smarter than this.
Writing in the dust is not vandalism. FFS!
That’s not the question
The question asked was what I thought of vandalism.
And yes I agree writing in dust is not vandalism
I own a Tesla. I bought it in 2018. I fucking hate Elon Musk but I do not feel like I need to get rid of my car. Me selling would not hurt Elon. It just hurts me because I rely on that car for my wife to get to work.
It’s paid off and it works just fine. Why should I have to sell my car for a huge loss and get something new just because you want to make a political statement.
My wife is a life long democrat. I have never had a party affiliation. I do not understand how damaging my car is supposed to help your cause.
Eh, people like me are going to judge you unless you have a bumper sticker. We call all Tesla’s “swasticars” in my family. The CEO did two Nazi salutes, and yes… Selling does harm the company.
Me selling would not hurt Elon.
This is not true.
Think bigger: if everybody sells their Teslas their sales would drop dramatically.
Gonna hurt OP more though. I say do it if you can afford it but it’s not worth it to shoot yourself in a foot just to make a statement.
Think bigger. Instead of bullying customers, vandalizing property of people like you, discourage future sales. Tank the stock. His ridiculous wealth is mostly stock, mostly Tesla. If you vandalize a car, you’re mostly hurting another person. If the market can no longer expect rapid growth, that overpriced bubble stock pops.
He lost like $30B in value destroying Twitter, but one of the reasons he didn’t care is Tesla stock more than made up for it. But imagine suddenly losing $100B or $200B. Even Msk will notice that. Even his hand picked board of directors would have to recognize his extremism is destroying Tesla and have to do something about it
This… is fair.
I do not understand how damaging my car is supposed to help your cause.
The fear you have for your car purchase is the point.
It’s not about changing ideologies or convincing people to change their politics or protecting owners who feel they are on the right side and should be spared.
It’s about having future buyers have to weigh whether the risk of vandalism, negative affiliations assumed of them, and insurance increases is worth buying the brand.
Unfortunate, but actions that result in indiscriminate collateral damage is what tends to actually have the intended impact. Which in this case seems to be to taint the Tesla brand as a risky one.
There are people who have literal swastica t shirts. The proud boys and oath keepers and 3%ers are not hard to find. Go punch a Nazi and leave my car alone. Find a pickup with a Trump number sticker and gift them a brick through their side window and some ventilation in two tires. Let’s leave the single mom who got a great deal on a used car alone.
I understand your point I just hate that people seem to think vandalism is going to make the world better in any way.
I don’t plan to vandalize private property. Pointing out what is the intended effect.
And regardless of political ideology what is happening to Tesla or any other brand receiving the same vitrol deters me from plans to buy them. Basically it’s radioactive to “we don’t like to talk about politics” crowd. Which is the average buyer.
In my mind, I put “driving a Tesla” as different than “driving a cybertruck.” Two different demographics. I wouldn’t laugh at the car, but I would definitely laugh at the truck.
Agreed. Regular Teslas were the first readily commercially available electric car and are reasonable to own. I’ve also seen funny bumper stickers for sale for Tesla owners that say “This car was bought before Elon sucked”etc.
A cybertruck was always his impractical vanity project and sold for an obscene amount of money. They don’t function as promised and even if they were sold by Ford or Toyota I would still think they were stupid cars. I would never vandalize one to be undrivable but I’ll laugh my butt off if I ever see one with vandalized rear or side panels.
In 2018 he called that driver a pedo.
Neuralink was founded in 2016.
You need to have a pretty old Tesla in order to have bought it before Elon made it clear he’s a moron.
Well it was never as clear as now
We saw a cybertruck with a swastika wiped in a few months ago. It was before he went full salute.
It’s still money going to them every time you need parts though
Unless you junk it, the next person will still need that part.
Funny thing about that. We had so many problems early on that in exchange for not lemon lawung the car they gave us an extra 5 year warranty. All the parts and labor for warranty repairs COSTS them money. So hopefully something expensive breaks before the warranty ends.
Translation: I don’t care about having a good car or having a strong moral framework or ethical stance.
I bought mine in 2018 as well. What’s more is I got a used one that still had lifetime free supercharging. I’m actively hurting Tesla every time I supercharge. If my car gets vandalized that would help Tesla.
Absolutely not what the fuck even is this question? I mean what? Things are hard for everyone and very few people out there need the hassle and expense of repairing an already expensive car in this economy. If you really have a problem with Tesla, which you should to be fair, then educate people around you so they don’t buy Teslas.
If you drive an $80,000 car you’re doing fine.
Not every Tesla is 80k. Model 3s are everywhere in California. Regardless, vandalism isnt the answer. I know so many here that hate driving their Tesla now but still need a car. Their two choices likely are to sell the car for nothing or continue driving it. Not a lot of people can take the hit of selling the car for such a loss and replacing it. Not a lot of people are that privileged to do so including Tesla drivers.
New Tesla car buyers I do judge though and think those are free game.
Not every Tesla is 80k
This one is though.
This isn’t every tesla though.
Of course not. It’s just the cover image of the discussion at hand and the owner of it is doing fine.
Maybe maybe not
So does that mean that it is ok to vandalize someone else’s property?
Sometimes.
Are they a rich fuck who is driving the coubtry i to the ground? Yeah, burning down Mar a Logo would be ok. Damaging anything with a Trump sign is morally fine, because he is a fascist fuckhead.
But someone who bought a csr? No, probably not without additional cobtext. If it is flying a Trump flag, yes. But a five year old Tesla is just a csr, and probably not fine to vandalize.
hard for everyone
People who are struggling can’t afford teslas.
educate people
Musk supporters don’t change their opinion based on information. Tesla owners who bought before they realized musk is a nazi don’t need education.
Vandalizing an object that materially supports fascism is obviously morally acceptable.
People who are struggling can’t afford teslas.
There are people who could afford Teslas but now can’t because everything has gotten more expensive. Those people, too, are struggling to maintain their standard of living. Teslas are expensive but they’re not yachts it’s not like Elon’s only customers are the filthy rich.
Tesla owners who bought before they realized musk is a nazi don’t need education.
What about people who don’t follow the news and don’t know Musk is a Nazi or think this is all blown out of proportion?
Vandalizing an object that materially supports fascism is obviously morally acceptable.
Why? What will it accomplish? Because the optics of vandalizing unrelated people’s cars are really bad.
What will it accomplish?
It’s not directed at the owner, but bystanders.
If you didn’t know or care that musk was a self confessed nazi, seeing vandalized teslas is still likely to discourage you from buying one. We’re social primates and forceful, visible displays of disapproval work.
Isolating a nazi brand and putting downward pressure on sales is vastly more important than an overwhelmingly wealthy demographic - tesla owners - having to use their insurance (worst case) or spend 5 minutes washing their car (as in OP’s example).
If you bought a $120,000 Cybertruck you’re probably still doing just fine.
I’m lax on the Model 3 and Y. They’re relatively cheap and affordable everyday cars. But Cybertruck? You knew by then he’s a lying douche and you still gave him a shit ton of your money.
I have a Tesla model 3 with my partner. It was simply the most cost effective EV for us at the time and let us do road trips easily with the super charger network, also he really likes the software updates and self driving features and stuff.
We bought it a while ago when Elon was just an idiot billionaire dick, perhaps not so different from other car makers executive boards just a bit more visibly and annoying, or at least that’s what we thought at the time. It’s worked well for us. We wouldn’t buy it again today given Elons actions in the past year especially.
Certainly I would hope our car wouldn’t be vandalized. Sometimes cars are compromises between family members with different viewpoints, sometimes they’re bought second hand, or more cheaply from older family members when they want a new car. It’s almost impossible to know the story of a car on the street.
Yet I think social pressure to stigmatize people buying teslas is a good thing at this point. Maybe leave a note, or do something non destructive. I get that may not have the same financial repercussions for teslas sales, but it should still help, while not having the detraction of potentially alienating and so listing the viewpoints of the victim of vandalism.
Normally yes but not now.
If you’re gonna do it, do it right. A brush with some heavily salted water, then paint your sign on it, then you know it’ll stay.
Then their insurance will fix it and all our insurance rates will go up.
I’m not sure cybertrucks are insurable
Just keep doing it untill it’s no longer covered by their insurance.
That’s not how it works here.
Car insurance here is a crown corporation who as far as I know, cannot do that.
No.
Can’t they just decorate them with fridge magnets?
Is drawing in the dust vandalism?
It scratches the paint. Even after washing your vandalism would be on the car.
Paint?
Paint?
Most Tesla cars are covered in colorful paint. Is this a surprise to you?
The cars at least could be hand waved that they could have been before Musk went maskoff, but the Cybertrucks, like the one pictured are from well after that and what I think we’re all talking about. Cybertruck owners are making a very different political statement compared to the early car owners.
OP does show a picture of cybertruck, but then mentions the cars. I completely agree cybertruck owners bought with full mask-off musk.
If you want to get really technical, in this case your grubby fingers would make it prone to rust.
So because they didn’t bother with painting it it’s my fault it rusts when I touch it.
I don’t buy your arguments that tracing words in the dust on a car is vandalism/defacing.
Defacing is something permanent tracing words in dust is not permanent.
Defacing is something permanent
Legally, it isn’t. People get arrested for sidewalk chalk art all the time. They often get dismissed because it’s a bullshit law, but it’s still a law.
On that note it’s interesting to see the stats on how many that have been arrested and tried for writing “wash me” in the dust.
The accused was fined one car wash for writing “wash me” on the defendant’s car.
Why would you touch someone elses property?
Dude, it’s a cybertruck. That drawing in the dust probably caused the brakes to fail or the headlights to short out.
It’s load-bearing dust.
It can scratch paint. Not sure about the cybertruck finish.
Sand and dust usually has really hard particles that will scratch most materials out there. Have you considered using rotten tomatoes instead?
lol … years ago, I went out to an event with a friend of mine in the city in the late spring. We’re in Canada and at the end of the winter season, there is a ton of road salt everywhere. We were in his truck, a beautiful F150 fully loaded and it was covered in this road dust. I was having a good time and felt stupid and decided to draw ‘racing flames’ with my finger on the side of his truck as joke. He literally screamed and jumped at me and said that I shouldn’t do that because it would ruin the paint. I had never owned a brand new expensive vehicle in my life so I never really cared about things like this but he was right, scratching up an expensive truck like that can really mess up the owner’s property.
I had never owned a brand new expensive vehicle
You mean a pavement princess?
I have a bike that gets scratched up every time I lock it to a bike rack and meanwhile people buying expensive work trucks are melting down if there is a scratch on their WORK truck.
Yeah trucks should be work vehicles. It’d be like getting upset about a scratch on your hammer
Defacing is vandalism yes.
It’s not defacing to clean someone’s car, even partially.
de·face /dəˈfās/ verb gerund or present participle: defacing spoil the surface or appearance of (something), for example by drawing or writing on it.
I dunno this isn’t really what I wanted the thread to be about.
Then you should have chosen a picture where the truck is actually defaced/vandalized with spray paint or the like, not some ambiguous dust tracing, that you have to spend time insisting is defacing.
I should have posted without an image in retrospect.
Do you think that removing the dust spoils the appearance?
I don’t know what you expected the thread to be about when you gave an example of “wiping dust off a car” and treated it the same as “scraping the paint off with a box cutter”. You picked an example that just begs for quibbling over severity.
I intentionally chose an example that would lead to fence sitting. Some people’s vehicles are getting literally destroyed lol
So you intentionally chose an example to produce the type of conversation you’re then complaining about?
Personally, I don’t consider it moral at all. They spent a lot of money on that thing. And what if people on the other side decide to vandalize back?
This looks like relatively harmless vandalism. What if it escalates?
What if car vandalism isn’t enough, what if they burn your house down? Or you to them?
I just think it’s an ugly way to live & nothing good comes from messing with shit that isn’t yours. In this case, the fitting punishment is already applied & by their own hand. Rapid depreciation, vehicles that rust in car washes, virtually no product support, expensive to maintain, ridicule from others…idk. I think that’s enough on its own.
Cybertrucks rust if they get salty or acidic water on them, and urine is both those things.
Honestly the cyber truck vandalizes itself, why even risk the legal consequences.
That’s not vandalism, it’s just dust someone wiped off. Come on.
I mean technically, if we are talking a painted vehicle, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that could cause minor scratching.
It’s defacing which is under the definition of vandalism.
Bullshit, it’s dust. Nothing has been defaced. That is absolutely ridiculous! Are you seriously arguing that the dust is part of the fucking car? Don’t be silly.
I’m not defending the action but just explaining to you that it literally falls under the definition of vandalism.
If someone wrote on your car with their finger you would probably feel upset and a little violated.
Also this doesn’t exactly apply to this vehicle as it’s made out of steel but if you press dirt into your car’s paint with your finger you will scratch the clearcoat. I feel like I shouldn’t need to explain this even but dirt is in fact, very small rocks.
If someone did it to my car, I’d wipe it off (maybe, unless I was in a hurry) because I’m not a snowflake looking for outrage.
If tried to file a report, the police would laugh at me because that’s fucking absurd.
I tried explain to you that, fpr all practical matters, you are incorrect, but fortunately for me, I’m not too invested in educating you on what vandalism is and isn’t.
Have a good day!
Writing in dirt is just not vandalism.
You insisting otherwise makes it seem like you might not be asking this question in good faith.
Y’all act like OP wrote the damn laws.
In many places, “writing” with the dust on a car is legally considered vandalism. It doesn’t matter how temporary it is, or if it washes off with a stiff breeze or a light rain. Here in Texas, it’d fall under criminal mischief for “intentionally or knowingly makes markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings, or paintings, on the tangible property of the owner”. Whether or not a court will spend the time hearing such a case is another story, but it’s technically illegal, as the laws are written.
What law is that exactly? Does it actually get enforced?
Here in Texas, it’d fall under criminal mischief
[…]
Whether or not a court will spend the time hearing such a case is another story
It is literally vandalism. I didn’t write the law. Lol
What law? Where? Has it ever been successfully enforced?
It is not. Writing “wash me” is not vandalism. This is not vandalism. Outside of the courtroom, reality is more important than a legal definition.
Moreover, legal definitions are irrelevant to whether an act is moral. Your fixation on this point in the face of so many people highlighting that no harm has been done again suggests you’re not arguing in good faith.
Let’s call it very localised cleaning.
If it can be defined as vandalism, it’s a harmless kind
If you define “vandalism” to include “writing in dust” then yes, some types of “vandalism” are ok on any type of vehicle what so ever.
Sometimes people write “wash me” in the dust on someone’s window. Who cares.
You shouldn’t write wash me on people’s cars, that’s such a dick move
Yeah. You see it all the time around here. It’s usually some smart ass kid doing it to their mum’s car or whatever.
However, that’s still “vandalism” by your definition.
Just gonna be honest… you seem a bit uptight about this.
