cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/michigan/p/403803/a-small-town-is-fighting-a-1-2-billion-ai-datacenter-for-america-s-nuclear-weapon
Ypsilanti, Michigan has officially decided to fight against the construction of a ‘high-performance computing facility’ that would service a nuclear weapons laboratory 1,500 miles away.
It’s mostly another NIMBY neighborhood getting their knickers in a twist because the facility will be used for nuclear research. That’s the main point they’re taking exception to.
The moment we use the NIMBY label we prejudice ourselves against potentially legitimate local and global concerns and specific local protest movements. I do that too on some issues but do wonder sometimes whether I’m being unfair. I guess the determining factors would be how big a sacrifice a local community is asked to make, how great the greater good that sacrifice will serve, also who is protesting and what arguments they bring forth, what values they stand for, how these values align with yours, etc.