Sense and Data Centers

Tech is ripping the people’s movement apart. 

Environmentalists and community organizers are currently pushing for moratoriums on data centers. Unions, especially the Building Trades, are supporting them.

By the end of June, 2026, the AFL-CIO national convention will have debated data centers. The Texas Democratic Party will, too. The Texas Organizing Project will present a movie and a talk by a leading North Texas  politician who is usually thought of as the most pro-worker. The Texas AFL-CIO will continue a procession of discussions, investigations, and tentative proposals. Several leading politicians, including the Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas, have already declared their opposition. Some unions have chided the Democrats. Some union leaders, building trades and Teamsters,  have signed up for one of Governor Abbott’s commissions.

The Dallas newspaper says that Texas follows only Virginia in having created the most data centers and is likely to take the lead. Texans in areas not known for political activism are flooding into county political meetings to protest. A few county commissioners here and there have taken action. One tech company is suing a county official for $10 million dollars because he voted for a moratorium.

It’s Worse

It’s not as bad as it looks. It is far worse. 

The outraged masses have hardly even begun to look at the long-range purpose of data centers. After data centers have gobbled up all our knowledge and culture, they will focus their computers on their main purpose – taking away people’s jobs. The information industry and tech jobs are already suffering. Former taxi drivers are counting the driverless cars on our streets. Driverless trucks are already coming into Dallas from Houston. Big tech companies have computers developing tens of thousands of “agents” – each of which has a specific job replacement target.

Artificial Intelligence is creating a second industrial revolution. In the first one, a group of weavers organized to destroy automated looms. They added “luddites” to our dictionaries, but they didn’t stop the first industrial revolution.

And Worse and Worse

The big tech companies are doing much worse things than destroying our livelihoods. They are also running wars. Thousands of satellites guide automated drones and missiles to administer death everywhere on behalf of whoever controls them. 

I haven’t seen anything about this from the Communications Workers of America, but many of their jobs will be sacrificed when, not if but when, satellites replace our cell phone system. Just last week, the Federal Communications Commission relaxed some rules to allow more satellite communications. So far, satellite phones are primarily on airlines and in rural areas, but the software is in place for a total takeover.

Who’s In Charge?

Elon Musk is fascism’s poster boy. He is likely to become the world’s first trillionaire, and it is primarily because of his close relationship to reactionaries in politics. He runs the satellite system and has a partnership with T-Mobile.

 But nearly all of the big tech corporations have gone to bed with the Trump Administration, because government contracts are the quickest and biggest way to riches. 

There’s nothing inherently wrong with automation and progress. The problem is who “owns” it and who is using it, and who is getting shafted by it.

What’s the Answer?

The answer to big tech, Artificial Intelligence, and automation in general is to take the ownership away from a few greedy parasites and let it be democratically run by the people. But of course, that’s the answer to everything, isn’t it?

A temporary “answer” to automation is to shorten the hours of work. That could be done by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, a Communist idea from the 1920s, to mandate a shorter work week and a higher premium for overtime work. The old CIO slogan was “30 for 40 with no cut in pay.” That was a good one that people could understand. 

Another idea that might be even easier to understand is early retirement. If we amended the Social Security act to allow an improved Medicare for all and better Social Security payments, we might advance the slogan, “Retire at 50.” That would work.

As for the satellites, war, fascism and Elon Musk, we’re going to need a better system.

–genelantz19@gmail.com