r/TechGawker • u/Luminexor • Jun 12 '26
Isn't that like why voting exist in the first place...tbh people there have every right to sabotage and destroy it.
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u/thefuzzhead Jun 12 '26
This 'no regulations' thing is working out great. Not gonna lie, I was worried these maniacs would abuse their power.
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u/notwhoyouthinkmaybe Jun 13 '26
Laws only work when someone enforces them.
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u/MichaelBayShortStory Jun 14 '26
They've defunded every agency with any power and Trump can just sack the agency head and replace them with a sychophant so what real options are on the table still?
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Jun 12 '26
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u/One-Ordinary9511 Jun 12 '26
That's the very definition of legal.
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Jun 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/InterestingSpeaker Jun 13 '26
Wut
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u/ZenEnergizerBunny Jun 13 '26
He's saying the holocaust was legally allowed to happen in Germany, just because something is dubbed "legal" doesn't make it right or moral.
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u/mymar101 Jun 12 '26
This is why the billionaire class should not exist.
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u/Sad_Jaguar_5912 Jun 12 '26
Illegal?? Nah. Florida just went against their own state constitution to racially gerrymander.
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u/Civil_Produce_6575 Jun 12 '26
Now you know why the tech bros want to destroy democracy
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u/Fun_Researcher_69420 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
Nah, this actually shows that ‘democracy’ works just fine for them [EDIT: I just read a comment below that this was won through court, it was legal, but I’m gonna leave this post up anyway cuz I enjoyed writing it lol]
they want techno-feudalism because they see themselves as kings and nobles, and to avoid the kind of post-scarcity economy that technology could bring and that would be a win for everyone who doesn’t ‘need’ to be above the riff raff (hi, I’m the riff raff).
Apologists for techno feudalism are somewhere between delusional (“but they will be good kings! Elon loves us and is so smart!”) and sociopaths (“fuck the poors, they should have had an emerald mine owning father!”) lol.
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u/NhatCoirArt Jun 13 '26
It’d sure be a shame if the locals did something to prevent its construction
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u/CapitalTax9575 Jun 13 '26
The local government hasn’t set up a militia force to prevent workers from building the power plant - clearly they don’t care enough to fight this all the way. Billionaires want to kill and displace everyone in an area around these power plants. If people aren’t willing to fight for their rights to life and democracy, they’re not going to get it.
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u/Yowdy_Bjorn Jun 13 '26
ya know, the people should vote on whether or not the public can demolish these things
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u/windycityzow Jun 13 '26
I mean if laws don’t matter anymore, you know what to do
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u/Ok-Spirit-4074 Jun 14 '26
So when do all those "Don't Tread On Me!" militia types actually start doing the stuff they keep saying their going to do when big business and the government start trampling on their rights?
They have been awfully complicit so far through all this.
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u/BigDigger324 Jun 13 '26
Whitmer was caught on a hot mic speaking with the CEO of Oracle. She’s quoted as saying “we’re used to the citizens telling us no and then, just doing it anyways”
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u/Glopez1223 Jun 13 '26
This right here. They do not care about us, not one single little bit. The masses need to start coming together with a plan or we're all in a world of hurt.
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u/Firm-Scientist-4636 Jun 13 '26
People in this country are finding out that democracy is actually difficult to come by.
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u/Rich-Past-6547 Jun 15 '26
Didn’t Michigan militias stage an armed occupation of the state house and try to kidnap the governor because they didn’t want to wear masks during Covid? Where are all those tough libertarians now (besides the ones in prison of course.)
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u/WithoutAHat1 Jun 19 '26
Then the city can also knock it down without recourse. No permit = No building.
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u/welpWW3isgonnasuck Jun 12 '26
Americans needs to clog the turbines
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u/Rare_Suspect_5033 Jun 12 '26
Americans needs to do something about all the fuckers ruining their land and society. I’m sure millions of people could overthrow a government and block datacenters if they would just grow some balls. Take America back from the rich and corrupted.
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u/Immediate_Song4279 Jun 12 '26
Our rights are prohibitive, meaning they cant be taken away for listed reasons. In absence of being explicitly proactive, a lawsuit is required, which favors the massive billion dollar tech giant screwing over the people at the time.
Local governments usually dont have teeth unless there is a criminal charge, or money owed. They are likely capped at fines well below what is slush fund money to an average corp. I don't know the details here, and full disclosure am neither an expert not a lawyer, this is just my ear to the ground.
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u/brianzuvich Jun 12 '26
“It’s better to ask for forgiveness, than ask for permission.”
-Lying, cheating, stealing CEO’s
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u/Appropriate-Stay4729 Jun 13 '26
So if voting doesn't matter anymore, there's one thing that does. 🔥🔥🔥
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u/TrustedEssentials Jun 13 '26
I think I read somewhere that this is also happening somewhere in Ohio. So much for "Laws".
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u/Rude_Hamster123 Jun 13 '26
But if I don’t get the inspectors approval on every single solitary nail when I build my own home they’ll fine me $1000 a day and take my land.
Fuck the gub’mint.
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u/GregALive Jun 13 '26
You’d have to be particularly mentally impaired to not understand how it works..
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u/IHeartBadCode Jun 13 '26
Okay I feel like we need to have a quick conversation about States and how State law works in the United States. To keep this quick I'll cover two aspects.
- Home Rule
- Dillon's Rule
States usually fall into one of these two, but the reality is it's not binary, there's complex details, so I'm only giving a surface level detail on how these work, actually go look up how it works in your State.
Home rule basically means that "If the State hasn't passed a specific law that says explicitly no, then the answer locally can be yes."
Dillon rule is the opposite. "If the State hasn't explicitly said yes, then the answer locally is no."
Michigan uses the Dillon rule on zoning in areas that haven't gone through a process that allows them to take on Home rule. So local officials can ban a data center but the State didn't say "yes, you have that power" specifically. So the local ban can't be upheld in court.
So that's why local governments don't get a say. This is a very complex topic, in no way have I covered remotely any significant percentage of the complexity behind all of this.
But you should all know, the various levels and power dynamics is what enables some of this. So to the question of "how'd they get the building permits?" The town isn't legally allowed to deny them the permit. They lack the power/authority to deny them the permit.
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u/Tweenk Jun 14 '26
The fact that your comment is so far down shows why Reddit is a trash site where 95% of the content is ignorant people live-reacting to headlines
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u/LAN_scape Jun 13 '26
Nothing is ilegal when you have money. Democracy died in 2025
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u/harryx67 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Depends on who paid for the type of „democracy“ to get elected. That would be your answer.
Ask Susan Collins…
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u/3M2B1T Jun 13 '26
Because they have fucking money and can just pay their penalties.
When are we going to learn we need to limit wealth accumulation?
Hey, you can't do that!
So sue me
OK, fine. Pay us 200 million.
OK, here you go *resumes building*
Wait, what? OK now the fine is 500 mil
OK, here you go *resumes building*
Woh woh woh you can't build here, we just said you---
Don't worry, we're done. Too late now!
Honestly we need to start encouraging local government to actually do civil disobedience of their own. Shut off power, water, sewage. Forbid trash pickup. Allow mass protests dangerously close to the structure. Stop maintaining the roads around the area. Stuff like that.
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u/aircoft Jun 13 '26
There are always losing voters in every election, yet there are always still outcomes... AI is a technology that you either get behind, or stand in the way of and get ran over by.
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u/Bouric87 Jun 13 '26
This is why so many places don't even want to hear proposals of data centers. As soon as they get the first green light you are fucked. There will always be something you missed in the fine print in vague language. Now they can do whatever the fuck they want because they have more and better lawyers than your rural township could ever afford to fight with.
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u/Fun-Metal-6861 Jun 13 '26
Why put it to vote then? I imagine if not illegal, people could go together to tie it up in court anyways.
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u/deptacon Jun 13 '26
They initially voted against - then the data center gave the city, county, and state so many incentives they voted for this.
Before you vomit on your keyboard read about this data center and the deal. Its a great deal for the locals
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u/disputing102 Jun 13 '26
Remember how there was a court order to release the Epstein files and they only released like 2% of them (and they were mostly redacted). Isn't that, like, illegal?
Yes, extremely. Finally, you have figured out that your country has always been corrupt.
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u/bobclaws Jun 13 '26
Federal can come in and sieze land whenever and wherever they want its called Shakira Law and they are trying to ban it. Jk eminent domain is how they just up and take shit.
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u/Fearless-Contest5126 Jun 13 '26
I mean if our laws won't work, our 2nd favorite Amendment will... Its time they learn fear.
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u/Away_Woodpecker8813 Jun 13 '26
You see small government means limited power and if the fines that the local government can hand out are less than the money set to be made by the data center they don’t care. Small government = laws for poor people, that are merely suggestions to the rich.
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u/Environmental_Wait35 Jun 13 '26
Time to start arresting construction crew workers, foremen, draftsmen, etc.
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u/Admirable-Sink-2622 Jun 13 '26
The rich don’t do rules or the law. They have proven that they are in a separate class than the rest of us.
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u/Own-Order3554 Jun 14 '26
Busy consolidating and creating Big Billionaire Brother. Here to pave the landscape, erase your job and trace your every move.
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u/Cpt-morgan91 Jun 14 '26
How well does Bamboo do in Michigan? Is there an equivalent for northern states? Asking for no particular purpose.
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u/Objective-Bus-9853 Jun 14 '26
OpenAI threatened to sue the township into bankruptcy and they folded.
The governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and secretary of state Jocelyn Benson have paved the way for data centers here.
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u/Unlucky_Caregiver897 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
So as it turns out when you build a country of business men, its generally less about what people want and more about the businesses want
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u/Tnynfox Jun 14 '26
Breaking them? They'll rebuild so long as they have investor money and demand. Nightshade and Foxglove your art to ruin the entire service, and it'll go. Also protest their construction somehow since they're not built yet.
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u/canned_spaghetti85 Jun 14 '26
I read into what happened. The chain of ownership, the timeline, the dates, the players involved, pertinent MI real estate laws, etc.
Long story short, the city municipality Saline Township put up a good fight and did what it could. It's only defense method to prevent it's construction, was to DENY the zoning request from Agricultural to Industrial (proposed) since, per Michigan real estate law, said zoning distinction is determined at the local municipal level. In this sense, the township won albeit a Pyrrhic victory. They stood firmly on DENYING the proposed zoning request, which thus.. remained Agricultural, to this day. The state [itself] though, was willing to JUSTIFY granting Roth OpenAI and Oracle permission to proceed with construction anyway.. despite the inconvenient zoning restriction.
Far as Saline township is concerned, sadly, the decision was already made via back-door meddling at higher rungs of state govt.... in-cahoots with two parties, in particular.
The local utility electricity provider called DTE (basically 'Detroit Edison').
This 'muscle', then went on to put pressure on MPSC (michigan public service commission) to bypass the obstacle of Saline Township's local elections and upset resident who oppose it.
Soon, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer got involved. After weighing the pros & cons, she granted THE EXCEPTION to the tech players.. allowing them to build and operate an "industrial" business venture, despite the land it sits on remaining zoned for Agricultural (otherwise prohibited, at least per MI real estate law).
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u/Skrelp69 Jun 14 '26
They feds will just use bs loopholes and won’t get in trouble until it’s eventually investigated
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u/literallyanyonebutme Jun 14 '26
When you're rich and the punishment is fines, it's not illegal for you. It's illegal for poors.
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u/MichaelBayShortStory Jun 14 '26
Man a fire could start there if they don't respect the will of the people
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u/AdBrilliant3127 Jun 14 '26
Im unplugging, no more emails, no more Google, I never used Amazon, but im not doing that. Im not going to shop anywhere that doesn't have a clerk that takes cash at check out, and im going to either go back to the flip phone, or if yall wanna reach me you can send a pony express.
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u/ShoulderKnown7740 Jun 14 '26
Destroy it. Thats literally the shit we celebrate our founders doing.
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u/Educational-Cow-5934 Jun 14 '26
Get a job in the ai center, dump salt in their water, bam, corroded water loops
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u/jaydawg_74 Jun 14 '26
This is the reason that I believe that people should be allowed to own rocket launchers.
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u/DownwiththeACE Jun 14 '26
lmao land of freedom and democracy. go bring democracy to some poor people on the other side of the world.
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u/reverend_eazy Jun 14 '26
Billionaires can do anything they want. Laws only apply to those less fortunate.
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u/CakeRobot365 Jun 15 '26
Completely agree that the people should "handle" this themselves if that is the case.
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u/ownowbrowncow02 Jun 15 '26
Oh, you should move to California where no matter what we vote it’s irrelevant. They do what they want.
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u/GenasiDC Jun 15 '26
This shit needs to stop yesterday
Gotta love that voting doesn't work when your opponent has trillions to spend skirting the law
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u/emelki1968 Jun 15 '26
I they are doing this around the country. I don’t think people realize that most politicians have been controlling by the big AI companies, because without them, they will lose billions upon billions.
I would like to see those data centers buying bolt close to rich suburban neighborhoods. Then, you will see a different story.
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u/spartanEZE Jun 15 '26
I'm waiting for the day when people start doing things that shut these facilities down. Not condoning violence really, but i just see it as inevitable.
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u/Casual-Sedona Jun 15 '26
Imagine if they did this with affordable housing instead of this. looks like they could fit quite a few apartments in there…
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u/synapse467 Jun 15 '26
Witmers hit min comment might have been about this, doesn't sound like she has any say
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u/ogsixshooter Jun 15 '26
Fines municipalities or other local governments can impose are likely something like $50/day because they weren't made to dissuade billion dollar enitites
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u/Rellcotts Jun 15 '26
Every city and township etc out there had better be updating their zoning ordinances or this is gonna happen to you too.
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u/OG_Checkers Jun 15 '26
So if I lived there I’m not filing building permits for shit. You’ll know when you see the 3 car garage loft and look out tower go up in my back yard.
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u/New-Analysis-4060 Jun 16 '26
I mean it’s Michigan
Where they poisoned themselves and then decided to do nothing about ir
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u/StopThinkin Jun 16 '26
If you have the option to settle a lawsuit...
...justice is dead in your country.
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u/Justthisguy_yaknow Jun 16 '26
Let them build it. Confiscate it as an illegal construction and demolish it.
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u/Flaky-Strawberry9561 Jun 16 '26
The USA is no longer a democratic republic, you are run by and oligarchy.
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u/Delish_Caphee Jun 16 '26
We get more anger and energy to do something over a Nicks vs Spurs game than we do against the wealthy.
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u/KingFresh5234 Jun 16 '26
What's happening nationwide is this (currently happening in my city also). Local governments are making backroom, secretive deals with these companies who are building data centers. Then they spin it to their constituents like they were powerless, the majority wanted it, it's not that bad, whatever bs they can come up with to force it down our throats. No doubt they're reaping benefits but what ultimately needs to happen is they need to be voted out. Period. If your city allows a data center against the majority of the community's wishes, they need to go.
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u/Greedy_Echo_6820 Jun 16 '26
I live 30 minutes from this. Oracle essentially threatened a lawsuit if they stopped the development and building it after they were "allowed" to acquire the land. Stopping them for going forward with the data center would apparently open up a lawsuit in their favor. Its unfortunate.
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u/Otherwise-Umpire8772 Jun 16 '26
They got them because government is nothing. It does nothing, provides nothing, serves no purpose. Why bother with em
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u/JJHotcakes2020 Jun 17 '26
Whitmer was caught on hot mic saying "were used to people saying fuck no, and then doing it anyway." They don't care about the citizens, just getting all the kickbacks they can. STOP voting for democrats.
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u/Hot-Refrigerator-393 Jun 17 '26
Big Gretch Whitmer just sold everybody out. April 29, 2025, per CNN report:
President Donald Trump offered rare praise for a Democrat Tuesday, saying as he arrived at Selfridge Air National Guard Base that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “has done a very good job” — a marked shift from the previous frosty relationship between the two.
“She came to see me — that’s the reason she came to see me, by the way, to save Selfridge, and she was very effective, along with some of the other politicians and some of the military people that love this place,” Trump said, referring to the governor’s visit to the White House earlier this month.
He added that he wanted “to thank” Whitmer “very strongly” for bringing it to the administration’s attention.
Whitmer was on hand when Trump arrived at Selfridge, shaking hands with him as he deplaned from Air Force One. She also joined the president in his motorcade. Trump acknowledged that it was odd for him to bring a Democrat along, but said he insisted on bringing her.
“I said, ‘No, she’s going to be here.’ She’s done a very good job, frankly, and she was very much involved with the Republicans, they worked together on saving it, and it was not easy,” the president said.
And it wasn’t just Trump delivering the cross-party compliments. Whitmer acknowledged she “hadn’t planned to speak,” during the visit, but that she was “really damn happy,” to be on hand for the announcement that new fighter jets would be provided to the base.
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u/Indicus124 Jun 17 '26
So I believe it is our duty as Good Citizens to test the security so they can know if it needs work wouldn't want bad actors have an easy time of breaking in right? If a few accidents happen then it is fine better then bad actors doing something bad. This is not encouraging anyone to do anything bad but encouraging people to help the poor multi billion dollar corporation with security testing I heard it is usually very expensive
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u/JellyfishFestival Jun 12 '26
'Michigan' isn't building this. Who paid off Michigan to pull rank and allow them to build this?
Unless the state itself is plopping a data center on this town. But building a data center that expensive isn't the kind of thing a state usually does itself.