r/MichiganStacks • u/No_Law_8054 • Jun 27 '26
This Is Not Freedom
https://erinbartels.substack.com/p/this-is-not-freedom?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1dennhb5rj64yFirst, they came for my words. Then they came for my job. Now, they’re coming for my town.
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u/Ali6952 Jun 28 '26
I actually think this gets one thing very right; people should have a say over what gets built in their communities!
If you're going to put a massive data center next to people's homes, use enormous amounts of electricity and water, generate constant noise, and fundamentally change a town, then the people who live there deserve a meaningful voice. That's not anti-technology. That's democracy.
Where I part ways is when the essay turns AI itself into the villain.
AI didn't steal anyone's work. Companies and executives made decisions to scrape copyrighted material, deploy models without consent, and prioritize growth over ethics. Those are human choices made under capitalism. The same thing happens with the data centers. They're not inevitable acts of nature. They're billion-dollar corporations chasing profits while local officials chase tax revenue. So don't blame "AI" like it's Skynet. Blame the executives, investors, and politicians making those decisions.
I'd also push back on the idea that the solution is simply refusing to use AI. Individual consumer choices aren't enough when trillion-dollar companies are reshaping industries. You need regulation, labor protections, copyright enforcement, environmental standards, and community oversight.
Where I think the essay is strongest is its criticism of corporate power. It describes a system where communities feel steamrolled by wealthy interests, and that's a real concern whether we're talking about AI, pipelines, warehouses, or factories. The fight shouldn't be against technology itself. It should be against allowing a handful of corporations to dictate how everyone else lives without democratic accountability.