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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nProtesters rallied against Elon Musk outside a Tesla dealership in Pasadena, Calif. on March 29 as part of a nationwide “Tesla Takedown” demonstration.\u00a0\u00a0MARIO TAMA\/GETTY<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miles Howard is a freelance writer in Boston and the founder of the Walking City Trail. He publishes the weekly hiking newsletter <\/em>Mind the Moss<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twice a week, I walk past a Tesla dealership near the Prudential Center in Back Bay on my way to pick up groceries. But these days, instead of passing the dealership by, I often stop and unfurl the protest sign I have stashed in my bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the many others who attended the recent Hands Off demonstrations in cities and towns across the United States, I\u2019ve grown some early gray hairs worrying about the human impacts of the current administration\u2019s policies. I\u2019ve wondered whether my parents will face\u00a0cuts to their Social Security benefits<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 benefits they depend on and that come from a program Elon Musk has\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthe biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.\u201d I watched, appalled, as Musk proudly\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that he had spent a weekend feeding the United States Agency for International Development \u201cinto the wood chipper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n One group of organizers has decided to fight back. On Feb. 15, they\u00a0proposed a plan of action<\/a>\u00a0for anyone fed up with Musk\u2019s hostile government takeover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They decided to target local Tesla dealerships. Why not hit Musk where it hurts the most?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These protests have taken off and morphed into a national grass-roots movement called Tesla Takedown<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Protests at Tesla dealerships have been held from coast to coast, and while it\u2019s impossible to know for sure whether this campaign of retaliation against Musk is having a direct impact on his company, the answer is probably yes. As outrage over Musk\u2019s activities has exploded and his brand turned toxic, Tesla stock has\u00a0plunged by 50 percent<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But perhaps the most telling sign of Tesla Takedown\u2019s potency is that Musk has used his massive platform on X to target protest leaders like Valerie Costa, a Seattle-based organizer whom Musk has baselessly accused<\/a> of committing crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The protests are ongoing, and they\u2019ve been successful for several reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An important feature of the Tesla Takedown protests is that they are recurring<\/em> events, usually on weekends. Some of the people who gathered at the Prudential showroom on March 8, like me, were first-timers. But others were repeat participants. One of them, Steve, was retired and worried about how Medicare cuts could upend his life. A younger protester, Sandy, was laid off after Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency cut the US Department of Agriculture workforce by 15 percent. She and her partner are expecting a baby in May. As I listened to their stories, I was surprised that the atmosphere didn\u2019t feel more grim. Instead, it felt more like catching up with neighbors at a local coffeehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised. Not only are Americans increasingly stressed and angry these days, but many of us are alone and lonely. What the organizers behind Tesla Takedown recognize is that breaking through our isolation is an opportunity for resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n