Coercive Competition and Crisis
TLDR; The attached article is very interesting
Many socialists have intuitively taken a position opposing any new data centres.
However, socialists (especially those of us who adhere to Marxism) are in favour of technological progress (the development of the means of production), but are opposed to the social relations of production that arise from private ownership of the means of production (capitalism).
This poses difficulty for developing a coherent position whilst socialists do not have control of system wide capital investment and have to tolerate a large private sector of the economy.
Should socialists oppose the deployment of new technology by private corporations and individuals if the social impact has a negative effect on workers?
What of the effect on the environment as data centres consume grid affecting amounts of electricity and consume vast amounts of water.
An analysis of the disposition of political power is essential to arrive at a coherent position. Intrinsic to that analysis is an understanding of public discourse that manifests the dominant hegemony - the pervasive understanding of what is possible, what is "common sense" and what is likely to happen (even if you and I don't consent) which affects how people determine their political choices. Hegemony is formed with both active consent and passive dissent.
The case of AI is most salient in the present time.
Main stream discourse is that AI will enhance productivity, that without it Australian society will fall behind and become uncompetitive and that the investment is good for the economy. Opposition has coalesced around the environmental impact on local communities and government policy has been deployed to mitigate that opposition (sustainable energy etc.) but there is general support for proceeding to implementation announced by both Labor and LNP. The ACTU position is to abide by provsions in EBA's, consult with workers and protect jobs and skills.
The effect on jobs and employment has been put into the background as state and federal governments jostle for the large scale investment on offer.
My position is that socialists should clearly support scientific and technical progress and assert that its benefits can only be realised when the interests of workers are a primary objective,
As a contibution to further discussion, this article incorporates an interesting theoretical position:
John Ganz
Member discussion