Wikipedia tells us that a data center is “a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Data centers are critical infrastructure for the storage and processing of information, and they support the global financial system….and artificial intelligence.”
Wikipedia tells us that a data center is “a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Data centers are critical infrastructure for the storage and processing of information, and they support the global financial system….and artificial intelligence.”
Data centers are being constructed now on a scale never seen before. These big, beautiful data centers have been described as “foundational to how modern society functions.” And, like so many other nefarious things, they are said to be vital to national security.
In January, 2025, former President Biden signed an executive order on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure, with a decided emphasis on AI’s central role in shaping the economy and our national defense. This order triggered the development of “domestic AI infrastructure,” visibly represented by large-scale data centers.
We have to “ensure U.S. economic competitiveness,” after all. It’s not like building factories and reviving domestic industry would do that.
Taxpayers are kept in the dark about lucrative data center subsidies, and one source claims we are paying about $1 million for every data center job created. In Israel, Larry Ellison’s Oracle is building a new data center that takes up nine stories. Underground. For “security” reasons. “Experts” warn that “anti-Israel protesters” are among those objecting to all these new data centers.
I worked in Information Systems for nearly thirty years, in three different data centers. So my knowledge of data centers is limited to what they historically were. Companies, or government agencies, would utilize a data center to store the data specific to their company or agency. So these sudden super data centers baffle me.
One in Utah is said to be envisioned as twice the size of Manhattan. What? How many servers would that require? And what data in Utah is being stored? No particular company built it. No special government agency did. So what is its purpose? What is the purpose of the over 600 data centers springing up in Virginia? Was that much of the state really offline, to require 600 new data centers? Shouldn’t someone be asking these questions? What else could they be used for, other than nefarious AI monitoring? If they’re not for surveillance, explain what they are for. Whose data are they storing, and why is there so much of it? Where was all this data before?
While few of our illustrious leaders are opposing this Orwellian expansion of AI technology, local opposition blocked some 48 new data centers in 2025. Famed whistleblower Erin Brockavitch has been reinvigorated and has introduced a map tracking data centers across the country. Communities are complaining about the cost of the infrastructure, and the usage of crucial resources like water and electricity.
Environmental activists like Greta Thunberg seem unconcerned with the massive “carbon footprint” these super sized data centers will have. It remains to be seen whether Americans can, for once, mount an effective grassroots movement to stop these data centers, which can serve no traditional IT purpose. It’s not just “conspiracy theorists” who understand that all this new “data” can only be the personal information of American citizens.
Polls seem to show that more than two thirds of people oppose these potentially liberty-threatening data centers. The people rarely show such good sense.
Much as the political support for AI data centers is bipartisan, so is the opposition on the part of the public. The New York Times called it “the most bipartisan issue since beer.”
The Washington Post acknowledged that the people are irate about these “energy guzzling behemoths,” but attempted to rationalize, state controlled media-style, the disconnect between the “representatives” and those who keep irrationally voting for them. Of course, they can’t do that, but nobody reads those newspapers anymore, anyhow. You can’t really have a “populist backlash” without a free press. Which we obviously don’t have.
Two politicians who have pushed back on the data centers are Bernie Sanders and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Now I don’t trust either one of them, but their opposition here is notable. Global spending on these big, beautiful data centers is predicted to top $7 trillion by 2030. But as usual, the elite have a backup plan.
Tiny “data centers” which can be installed in individual homes are now being pushed as well. The same questions apply here; just why would any home need a tiny “data center,” and exactly what “data” would be involved? Just as no one delineates what the big, beautiful data centers will be doing, that isn’t being done now, no one bothers to share what an individual homeowner “data center” would do. What else could it do, other than monitor individuals and families? A home security system on steroids. Tracking internet usage. Television viewing. Music listening. Phone conversations. Personal conversations. Energy use. Is that something anyone would want?
These big, beautiful data centers are the culmination of decades of government destroying our civil liberties. Drunk Driving checkpoints (i.e., unconstitutional roadblocks) and SWAT team raids that obliterated the Fourth Amendment. The Patriot Act. Free Speech Zones. Hate Speech, which is Thought Crime. The Supreme Court has ruled that the police are under no obligation to protect the public. They have also ruled that police can use ignorance of the law as a defense. But the public can’t. Think about that- “law enforcement” doesn’t have to know the laws it enforces. As a lifelong Thought Criminal, I was ranting about the MADD-inspired roadblocks, and the militarized police, almost fifty years ago. Very few were listening. We allowed this. We built this, to paraphrase the beloved Barack Obama. It’s nice to see some people out there protesting the data centers, but why didn’t they protest the Patriot Act?
What irks me the most, and should irk all Americans, is how quickly these data centers burst upon the scene. How nothing was explained about their purpose, or why there has been such such a tremendous expansion of “data” since I left the IT world so unceremoniously in 2018. They just are. They’re big and beautiful. We “need” them. True, we didn’t “need” them before, but we really “need” them now. We won’t tell you why we “need” them. Trust us. Would we lie to you? Look at all the “identify theft” commercials. Where are the commercials warning about the truly massive identity theft that will result from these AI data centers?
The only “data” they can possibly collect is your personal information. Maybe that’s how they’ll calculate the Social Credit Scores, which will go along with the new Digital Currency. Anyone reading this is sure to have a very, very low Social Credit Score. Congratulations. It’s a big club, and we’re all going to be in it. I’m sure my score will be Hall of Fame worthy.
How could anyone not be suspicious of gigantic AI data centers appearing everywhere? How could anyone not be suspicious of everything at this point? Ask your friends and family what they think all these data centers are for. Just for laughs. Did you hear any protests when all the surveillance cameras started showing up on every street, outside of every business? Why was there no opposition to all the red light cameras to catch the driving infractions that police patrol cars missed? Sure, you have potholes and ancient power grids. But you have SWAT teams. And roadblocks. And free speech zones. And “Hate Speech.” And cancel culture. But no liberty. We are all Winston Smith now. 1984 is here. Big Brother is watching you.
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