A Movement Bigger Than Hating Data Centers

The data center revolt and the pushback against detention camps have something in common. The public is realizing it has power.

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This week, "Next Comes What" considers how the oligarchs driving the AI boom and the president of the United States are all driven by a desire not just for wealth but for unlimited power that gives them control over humanity itself. Andrea Pitzer looks at Donald Trump's attempt to use the entire apparatus of the federal government to make reality whatever he says it is, with disastrous consequences for the country and the world. The CEOs pushing the AI boom portray themselves as the saviors of humanity, but in reality are inflicting tremendous damage by steamrolling communities and workers with new tools of technology that cannot deliver on the disingenuous promises being made by the tech titans. Meanwhile, both the president and the CEOs are warping the global economy.

Yet what they demand is not inevitable. Just as with the local--and occasionally even bipartisan--pushback on ICE's attempt to convert existing warehouses into concentration camps nationwide, the data center revolution is now facing resistance from unhappy Americans across the political spectrum. Andrea looks at what it means when people wake up to the power that they have, considers the risks of any big social reaction, and explains why it's important for the anti-data center movement to become bigger than simple backlash. Before the current momentum can get diverted to benefit those who seek only more exclusion and control, supporters of self-governance need to harness this revolt and build a coalition that embraces democratic values, linking the health and stability of local communities to a bigger concept of what kind of country we ought to be.

00:00 - The Illusion of Power and Real-World Harm 03:45 - Manufactured Reality: Renaming Lake Ontario to Erasing Public Health Data 07:12 - Billionaire Philanthropy, Tech Oligarchs, and the Drive for Absolute Control 11:05 - The Reactionary Playbook: How CEOs and Politicians Conflated Cultural Grievances 14:50 - Gil Duran on The Nerd Reich, The Sovereign Individual, and Tech Governance 18:30 - The Grassroots Anti-Data Center Movement: A Cross-Partisan Populist Revolt 22:15 - Risks of Unchecked Resistance: Avoiding Scapegoating and Isolationism 26:00 - Corporate Encroachment, Public Resistance, and the Fight for Democratic Accountability