>In some areas, density is appropriate, and in some areas it's not.
Indeed, the way we have effectively banned density everywhere is wildly inappropriate. Cities should allow dense development. That is, after all, the whole idea of cities: attain the benefits of agglomeration. Cities rejecting anything other than detached single family houses in most of their footprints is contradictory to their purpose.
I've heard talk from some folks telling these people that their concerns about data center water use, power, noise etc. are overblown. Water companies disagree, saying data center water usage in fact is quite significant. Oops. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/21/not-enou...
The UK is surrounded by a planet-spanning body of water. It has no excuse to be complaining about water shortages even if every square inch of it was a single giant datacenter.
Amazingly, they managed to _undersell_ the ill effects that the oil industry would have on even just the US, such as the oil-driven military actions we've taken over the years.
The "coastal elites" they resent are made up by conservative media. No behavior changes by the yuppies can affect the ever-increasing resentment people feel in response to this sneering bully, because the bully is made up and the tendency of RW media to use ever-more-dire portrayals of supposed societal ills.
As an aside, I think the culture which produces this result is related to people in the US always thinking crime is increasing, regardless of actual crime trends.
Sounds nice but is that what you really mean? The government created Covid, let it leak from a lab and now people want to give them power to force millions of innocent people take the medicine they also created. “Finding and halting the boot” would look a little different from that in my mind
Market efficiency as most people in the US mean requires the presence of things like roads in decent condition and regulation of RF spectrum use. Both of those are funded via taxes. Reasonable tax rates and uses of tax revenue are required for most non-trivial-sized markets to function efficiently.
One of the problems is that rather than billionaires being it for money, they’re in it for money. They don’t lack for money to live, sure, but they do want more money for the power it provides.
One thing I'm gathering from reading this thread is that the 'spending money' is different than the 'power money.' The 'power money' may not actually exist as it's tied up in valuations. If your company is the 'power money' generator, then of course you'll need to work more, since you're in it to be more powerful
I agree but I also think this end up a case of "worse is better". Sure it sucks that doing things with AI is slower and more prone to issues, but now you can be more lazy and still mostly accomplish the same things.
I don't expect to go for that, but other people might. Especially if AI stuff continues to improve.
Indeed, the way we have effectively banned density everywhere is wildly inappropriate. Cities should allow dense development. That is, after all, the whole idea of cities: attain the benefits of agglomeration. Cities rejecting anything other than detached single family houses in most of their footprints is contradictory to their purpose.