The Data Center Vote and the Teleprompter (They're the Same Mechanism)

Hamilton voted down a data center last week. Hundreds showed up to a planning tribunal, the city council meeting was livestreamed on Reddit, and the proposal was denied. It was a real win. The infrastructure that needed the data center is unaffected. This episode is about that — and about the week Gavin realized he'd been reading off a teleprompter and feeding analytics into AI to optimize his show about how systems optimize people. The vote and the teleprompter are the same mechanism: it feels like resistance, it feels like you're doing something, and the underlying system continues exactly as designed. Not an AI apology video. Not a call-out of the people fighting data centers. Just a loop one person found himself in, and what it looked like from the inside. Equal parts Hamilton local politics, Byung-Chul Han's psychopolitics, and genuine self-incrimination. Welcome to the Collapse. 🎙 Park Bench Ontology — existential comedy for the end of the world. 🔗 Follow & Support: 🌐 Website: http://gavinstephens.ca 🎧 Podcast: https://pod.link/uncolonized 📷 Instagram: @countgavin 🐦 Bluesky: gavinstephens.substack.com 🎵 TikTok: @ParkBenchOntology 📼 YouTube: http://youtube.com/@parkbenchontology Also, Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation Subscribe and leave a review! 🎙 Park Bench Ontology — existential comedy for the end of the world. 🔗 Follow & Support: 🌐 Website: http://gavinstephens.ca 🎧 Podcast: https://pod.link/uncolonized 📷 Instagram: @countgavin 🐦 Bluesky: gavinstephens.substack.com 🎵 TikTok: @ParkBenchOntology 📼 YouTube: http://youtube.com/@parkbenchontology Also, Check out the Substack: Dispatch From The Simulation Subscribe and leave a review! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.