Monticello Data Center – Part 4

If you’ve stayed with me so far on the Monticello data center issue, it’s now time for some tough talk. It’s time for an intervention.

It’s time for some accountability that is not merely a political cliche, something we say only about our opponents.

Accountability has to be about us, too. If its not, it’s just B.S.

Folks, what if we actually have the government that we deserve, right now? What if each of us is responsible for the current situation that has allowed the Monticello data center to be almost a reality?

What if we have met the enemy, and he is us?

I was campaigning a few months ago in Monticello and I spoke to a nice young couple in Featherstone. They had two small children playing in their yard. We talked about the Monticello data center. I told them I was a reasonable Democrat, and it was clear that they were Republicans. Even so, we had a nice conversation. As I left, the husband said “The Republicans have really let us down on this issue.” As an aspiring politician, I did not want to alienate them, so I didn’t say anything.

But here is what I wanted to say: “Dude, you let yourself down. For years, you have been voting for the exact same Republicans, and their oligarch, hyper-rich tech bros, who are doing this to you now. You have voted for these kinds of policies, policies that destroy our environment to make a few people (this does not include you) rich. Really rich. You are only starting to notice it because it suddenly impacts you personally. When these policies impacted Others, that is, people who are not White young Republicans, you could not have cared less. As long as you lived your smug, complacent life believing that you were better than most people, well, the Republicans were just fine. They told you stories that made you feel good about your selfishness. They even wrapped a strange version of Jesus and the Minnesota state flag into the argument, and you swallowed it whole. But now, when you experience the full impact of the politicians, the party, and the policies that you supported, well, you don’t like it very much.”

If you are a Democrat, don’t say this to them. It will not help you communicate effectively and it will not help the situation.

If you are in Wright County and do not want the massive Monticello data center to destroy our way of life out here, there is something that you can do. This is especially true for the folks who live in or near Monticello.

The fact is that so far, you are doing it wrong. But there is still time to fix it. Look at the Monticello Data Center – Part 5 post now.