Far-right miscreant Elon Musk got a taste of the opposition to him in London – as protesters occupied his Tesla showroom over his multiple crimes against people and planet.
Elon Musk: abolish him and the rest of the billionaires
At midday on Saturday 1 March, the Tesla showroom in Westfield Shepherd’s Bush was disrupted by Climate Resistance protestors. A massive banner with the demand “Abolish billionaires” was dropped over the Tesla logo from a balcony above as a group of 30 staged a sit-in inside the showroom:
Security intervened to physically drag protesters from the premises:
Protesters accuse Tesla’s owner Elon Musk of accelerating the climate crisis through his high-carbon lifestyle and his support for climate crisis-denier Donald Trump:
The disruption took place as part of the new Abolish Billionaires campaign from campaign group Climate Resistance.
Multiple misdemeanours
Calling for an end to the billionaire tech bro oligarchy, campaigners demand a 100% wealth tax on assets over £10 million to fund public services and climate action. Over 50% of Brits believe that billionaires should not exist, and three quarters support a wealth tax.
The protest also pointed to the inhumane mining practices in Congo that Tesla relies on for battery production, as well as Elon Musk’s notorious anti-trade union stances, highlighting that the recently appointed head of DOGE owes his wealth to ruthless exploitation of communities across the world.
Despite allegations of a toxic company culture, Tesla continues to be the only major car producer in the US that is not unionised and has so far quashed workers’ attempts to change the situation.
The Trump administration, which Elon Musk has become an infamous part of, has taken steps to undermine global climate action, including withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and ramping up fossil fuel production under the motto “drill, baby, drill”.
Meanwhile, the super-rich continue to be the chief producers of the world’s carbon emissions: according to Oxfam, it would take one of us in the “bottom 99%” over 1,500 years to match the amount of pollution that the richest billionaires create in a single year.
Elon Musk: profiting from misery
Sam Simons, spokesperson for Climate Resistance, said of the Elon Musk protest:
The super-rich profit from poverty, torch the planet, and rig the system in their favour — it’s time to tax them out of existence and use that wealth to fund climate action. As fires and floods devastate homes at a higher rate than ever, billionaires like Elon Musk keep fanning the flames of climate breakdown with their toxic investments and high-polluting lifestyles, all the while profiting from poverty. We must tax their billions to fund our futures.
As the world’s richest man, Elon Musk is the prime example of everything wrong with the global economy. He has built his empire through ruthless exploitation towards an overt fascist oligarchy. Tesla has faced numerous allegations of union-busting, discrimination and dangerous working conditions, and its reliance on cobalt from Congo keeps fueling instability in the region that has resulted in the death and displacement of thousands. The system now rewards Musk with unlimited power he is clearly unfit to hold.
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