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by dpoloncsak 20 days ago
Non-paywalled: https://web.archive.org/web/20260527033649/https://www.thegl...

It's frustrating seeing this issue framed as a big tech issue, and not as an issue of government refusing to govern. Not only are local governments welcoming these data centers, but they're giving them tax breaks to move into town. If it's going to cause the quality of life of your citizens to supply these data centers with water/power, the least you could do is not give them a tax break for doing so.
1 comments
nobodyandproud 20 days ago
Wave more money than the GDP of your entire town or region.

Let’s stop pretending money doesn’t give a disproportionate amount of influence to a representative government, before things get perpetually violent.

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dpoloncsak 20 days ago
Agreed, but again, my issue is not at companies buying influence, but politicians selling it. The companies would be dumb not to, as there will be someone else who will. Politicians are put there specifically to govern this, and instead are selling influence. There is no accountability for them.
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nobodyandproud 18 days ago
They go hand-in-hand and you should have a problem with the companies.

Politicians listen to lobbyists, who are funded by those with the most resources and time, because they’re the ones actively communicating with the politicians.

The ones with the resources and time to hire these lobbyists are not the lower, middle, or even upper-middle incomes who normally don’t have time to do it themselves nor the money to hire.

If you don’t want politicians to listen to the graft, then consider the market-driven source of the problem.

Pinning it on the politicians sweeps the root cause under the rug.

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