undefined | Better HN

0 pointsmbgerring23d ago0 comments

- Legislation

- Labor organizing

I grew up in a union household, and my dad and my grandfather fighting for better wages, healthcare and working conditions are the reason why I got a good education and work in Silicon Valley surrounded by Stanford assholes.

All of us who work for a paycheck can get together and say, “no, we will not allow you to record keystrokes and mouse movements to train our replacements. No, we will not have our performance or future employment based on an AI leaderboard.”

Previous generations fought and died for our right to do that, but in 2026 we just sit on our hands and complain on this forum. We can and should do better.

The U.S. is absolutely on fire right now with opposition to data centers. We, collectively, can extract concessions or ban their construction altogether.

These things aren’t “easy”. They are also eminently possible.

0 comments

2 comments · 1 top-level

antonvs23d ago· 1 in thread

I think you're in denial about the reality of the situation.

The reality is that the US has been a story of increasing concentration of wealth and power. The people who "fought and died" bought some important (from a human rights perspective) but ultimately minor (from a capitalist perspective) concessions from the capital class. The battle you describe is one of defense of rights, not of gaining control.

The overall system of capitalist control remains unaffected, and it's why the buildout of AI is, in fact, inevitable under the current system.

You're essentially saying no, you want public control of the means of production instead. That might be great, if even a sizable fraction of the US population agreed with you. But due in no small part to decades of propaganda, they don't.

mbgerringOP23d ago

So your position is, “yes, workers have fought back against power in the past and won, but now it’s just too hard :(“

Ok, good luck

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse