It's really weird to have achieved an age where I can feel both nostalgic and bitter about the past. But here we are.
Back in the tech boom of the late 1990s, I worked for a startup software company that got bought out by a West Coast dotcom, so I kind of had a front-row seat. And one of the true beliefs of the true believers was that this new era of work would be different.
They would derisively point to legacy companies like General Motors and say things like, "Our leaders aren't like theirs — stogy old farts in three-piece suits and country club memberships. We like our workers, we care about our workers, and we care about the environment and doing good, positive work."
And I guess in a sense they were right; these tech leaders turned out to be different from those old-style corporate bosses — they are exponentially worse. The Elon Musks, the Peter Thiels — they are somehow greedier, more irredeemably power hungry, and just plain more evil than the Roger Smiths and Lee Iacoccas of yore.
Michigan needs to be very careful about deals we make for data centers with these hyper-level robber barons.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
