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Comment by andriesm | Hacker News Reader

I find it hard to locate my sympathy button for people who smash and burn things built up by other people.

The act of destruction is not inherently evil, it is a matter of what it targets. You can burn down the Library of Alexandria or you can bust open a concentration camp. (These are just some extreme examples, some datacenter isn’t morally equal to either).

Datacenters aren't built by people, they're built by corporations.

Corporations which are entirely made up of people. Not to mention the people that physically built and maintain the data center.

Or did the actual legal fiction of a corporation do it? Maybe the articles of incorporation documents got up and did the work themselves?

It means that no one cares about the creations except in terms of money. If an Oracle building burns down and no one is hurt, I wouldn't shed a single tear. If an artistic graffiti mural adorned its wall, I would be more upset.

I get what you mean, but my point is even that Oracle building was designed, built, and maintained by the work of real people. Many of which I assume take pride in their work and may in fact care if it’s burned down.

But why should they? An Oracle data centre is built for one purpose, and one purpose only - to increase the wealth and power of Larry Ellison. Is furthering that goal really something to be proud of?

As a wiser man than me once said, do not anthropomorphise the lawnmower.

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