Comment by harimau777
19 hours ago
It kind of feels to me like a big element of this is that the social contract in America has broken down. Why should an individual accept any sacrifice whatsoever if all of the profit is going to go to the billionaires who own it? If they do get built and someone suffers an externality, why would they believe that society will do anything to make things right?
Basically, I think that the the capitalist class are finding out that things like social safety nets, socialized healthcare, income equality, etc. aren't just important for humanitarian reasons; they are also prerequisites for people to trust society enough to be willing to coordinate around major projects.
> Why should an individual accept any sacrifice whatsoever if all of the profit is going to go to the billionaires who own it?
At some point, their 401Ks are going to depend on it.
I think that's another example of the social contract breaking down. Lots of people either cannot afford to invest or no longer believe that investing will allow them to afford things like a house or retirement that were traditionally part of being middle class.
I imagine that things would be dramatically different if most people believed that the success of data centers would directly lead to their economic success.
45.7% of Americans don’t have a 401k. That’s not a convincing argument.
That's more people than elected the sitting president. Numbers don't really mean what you're trying to imply. Going the other way, 1% of the population hold the vast majority of the wealth while yielding all of the power.
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