[ExI] I hate to say it but, I agree with Trump

[Stuart LaForge]

On 2026-09-01 18:29, spike jones via extropy-chat wrote:
> …> On Behalf Of John Clark via extropy-chat
> Subject: [ExI] I hate to say it but, I agree with Trump
> 
> I guess even a stopped clock can be right once a day.
> 
> Trump says communities that reject data centers "want to end up being
> backwards and poor" [1]
> 
> John K Clark
> 
> I have been watching this unfold for some time.  The current POTUS has
> been consistently pro-data center from the start.  His political
> opponents, particularly the more extreme opposition, have opposed data
> centers.
> 
> A data center is being built within walking distance of where I live,
> so I talk to a number of neighbors about it.  I am surprised to find
> more opposition than support, and it is politically aligned: the
> generally left side of the spectrum doesn’t like it, the right side
> does.
> 
> I do not understand why data centers are developing a political
> orientation.  Do offer an explanation, anyone who has an insight.
> 
> spike


It is because the AI are companies are marketing their products to an 
older generation by claiming that their products will keep younger 
generations out of the labor market by taking their jobs while many of 
them are still in school. Imagine being a Cal-Tech math major starting 
their fourth year of university. Of course all the executives that make 
this decision presume that they will somehow manage to keep their jobs 
and that people without jobs will still stumble across money to buy 
their products.

These disgruntled artists and software engineers voted and got laws 
passed in both the EU and California to watermark all AI output so that 
it could be flagged so that intellectual property rights and artistic 
value could only be applied to human output . . . or elephant output 
apparently.

https://elephantartonline.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopf1d-E_iWwzz0VNWpEzNGJ7wAqqtZQZI8qthV4-7M0X0kL1tTC

Another reason is probably the energy consumption of a data center and 
concomitant climate change as well as the same general NIMBY sentiment 
that has prevented us Americans from fully enjoying the fruits of atomic 
energy.

Stuart LaForge