The Great Data Center Kerfuffle of 2026
“Moshe, America is in a kerfuffle. And this kerfuffle has a name: The Great Data Center Backlash of 2026. Turn on TikTok, and you’ll see that data centers are this week’s boogeymen. Yes, those huge collections of networked computer servers are popping up all over the world, and people are freaking out.”
Mordechai rubbed his left hand across his sideburns and continued.
“Who would have thought? People are actually afraid of remote storage, processing, and the distribution of massive amounts of data. It’s like the Church not wanting ordinary people to learn Latin, or Southern slave owners outlawing the education of Black people. Some people are even saying, ‘Data centers are the new Jews.’ Nobody wants one in his neighborhood.”
Moshe laughed.
“They’re accused of sucking up our water, gobbling up our electricity, and driving up our electric bills.”
Moshe thought for a moment and then asked, “Do you want to know why I think people are really scared?”
“Sure.”
“It’s what the data center represents. People are afraid that AI is going to become our master. They fear it’s going to take away our jobs, destroy the economy, damage the environment, and eventually control our minds. It’s like those old Frankenstein movies, where the farmers and peasants in some Eastern European village march through the night carrying torches and pitchforks toward Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. They want to burn down his house and fry the monster. They’re afraid of science.”
“Great analogy,” Mordechai replied. “I wonder whether today’s illiterates on both the Right and the Left are going to march on those data centers.”
“They already have,” Moshe said. “And they’re carrying signs that say, ‘Stop Building AI Data Centers Before We Get Hurt!’”
“It’s interesting that data centers are under attack from both the Right and the Left. And whenever the Right and the Left agree on something, it’s usually a terrible idea.”
“Remember the Luddites?” Moshe asked. “Or, as I like to call them, the ‘horse-and-buggy guys.’ They’re a bunch of losers. Bernie Sanders is practically their patron saint. These old farts have never won an important battle in their lives, and they never will.”
Mordechai shook his head.
“The Big Money guys—the Musks of the world, the people with billions of bucks—they own the playing field. They own the data centers. They own the companies that build them. And they have enormous influence over the government and over the information stored inside those data centers.”
He paused.
“So what chance does a bunch of yahoos with pitchforks have against them? This ain’t David versus Goliath. Goliath has a private jet, a fleet of lawyers, and a server farm.”
Moshe laughed.
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“The information.”
“Right,” Mordechai said. “The rich bastards have an old saying: ‘The guy who controls the information controls the world.’ And every government in the world seems to live by that credo.”
Moshe smiled.
“I’ve got another maxim for you.”
“What is it?”
“One man’s kerfuffle is another man’s opportunity to make big bucks.”
Moshe laughed and wondered aloud:
“Should I buy more Nvidia?”
