In the early 19th century, English textile workers smashed the machines they believed were stealing their livelihoods. They called themselves Luddites, after the folk hero Ned Ludd, and for a time their nighttime raids on factories and mills struck fear into the hearts of industrialists. The rebellion was eventually put down, and progress marched on — raising living standards around the globe in the process. Today, “Luddite” means someone who reflexively opposes progress, and according to PJ Media’s Athena Thorne, the label fits a growing number of Americans panicking over the latest technological breakthroughs.
Writing for PJ Media, Thorne argues that the three biggest technological bogeymen of the moment — Flock cameras, artificial intelligence, and data centers — don’t merit the fear and loathing they’re generating. In fact, she says, much of the opposition is driven by partisan politics and projection rather than genuine concern.
The Flock Camera Fight
Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company, manufactures advanced law-enforcement cameras that collect, store, and sometimes process data. Anti-surveillance organizers — including groups like DeFlock.org — have zeroed in on the company and successfully stirred up outrage across the political spectrum.
Thorne acknowledges that both left and right have reasons to be wary of surveillance. She points to the Biden administration’s use of geofencing data around the U.S. Capitol after Jan. 6, 2021, which swept up anyone in the vicinity, as a genuine cause for Republican concern. She also notes that the left has used digital tools to spy on Republican competition since at least the Obama years — long before Flock cameras existed.
But she’s far more dismissive of Democratic objections, which she frames as a mix of projection and paranoia. “They know exactly what they would do with any enhanced surveillance tools,” she writes, adding that a party that is majority-women and convinced a dystopian future is one election away is hardly a reliable judge of law-enforcement technology. Her central point: only one party is pro-criminal, and it’s the Democrats — so their attacks on police tools should be viewed skeptically.
AI and the Luddite Problem
On artificial intelligence, Thorne grants that the technology can be misused — especially in the wrong hands — and that some workers genuinely fear their skills will become obsolete. But she argues that fear is only semi-justified. While some jobs may change or disappear, new professions will emerge, and the university set — whose careers are most vulnerable to AI disruption, in her telling — has the most to worry about.
“Fight it or embrace it, but the future is coming either way,” she writes. “Instead of fearing it, watch for your opening to get on board — and prosper!”
Data Centers and the Energy Race
The rise of AI has brought the question of power generation to the fore, and Thorne says Democrats have long lived by the slogan, “If it works, we’re against it.” She accuses them of trying to suppress the AI industry by attacking its power supply, arguing that data centers are unfairly maligned.
Some data centers do use significant resources, she acknowledges, but others reuse water, help stabilize local grids, and even lower prices. Forward-looking companies are building their own power plants, and Thorne calls data centers “some of our most potent energy laboratories” — driving breakthroughs in fuel cells, microreactors, shale, and next-gen geothermal.
She cites a June Echelon Insights poll reported by Axios, which found that only 27% of voters would support building an AI data center in their community — dead last among the projects tested, behind even a nuclear power plant. Her response: those fearless 27% will be “sitting pretty in a decade,” while the “quaking neo-Luddites” watch their boroughs decline.
A Global Race
For Thorne, this isn’t just about local politics. The race for more power and more AI is global, and U.S. security may depend on winning it. “Fear won’t stop the breakthroughs from happening; it will just stop them from happening here,” she concludes, urging readers to let technology run free and deal with problems as they arise.
The piece, published on PJ Media, is unapologetically conservative in its framing — attributing anti-tech sentiment primarily to Democratic politics and celebrating the profit motive as the engine of progress. Whether or not readers share that view, the article captures a significant strain of thinking in an election year where data centers and AI have become unexpected political flashpoints.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/athena-thorne/2026/08/19/datacenters-and-flock-cameras-and-ai-oh-my-n4956304
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