The Blueprint for a Populist Deal with Big Tech
Big Tech, and their political counterparts, have done a horrible job pitching data centers to you, and you are absolutely correct in your gut instinct to reject them in your community given the current pitch. However, I see a way to thread the needle, forcing Big Tech to take seriously the demands of the American people and to revitalize the great swathes of Middle America forgotten and rejected by coastal elites. What Big Tech overlords must accept is that data center construction happens only on our terms, not theirs. And that means, first and foremost, providing high-paying jobs, cheap power, and community investment to Americans - and Americans only - if they want to add more compute to a country that resents what Big Tech has done to them.
Author
Sam Rhodes
Date
September 28, 2026