Welcome to Dispatch #34! We are living in rapidly changing times as digital technology tries to take over more and more of our lives, not only in the online realm but increasingly in the real world with the rise of AI and massive data centers around the globe, often at the whims of a few rich people and countries. So this week, let’s talk about the efforts to fight back. We’ll discuss successful movements in Chile against data centers, the historical roots of anti-technology movements, the true aims of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and more! Let’s get into it!
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Easy Actions to Take
The BDS Movement has endorsed the growing consumer boycott of Spotify for their exploitation of musicians, promotion of racist forces in Israel and the US, normalizing apartheid and genocide, and rampant creation of AI-generated music.
Why: The Constitution is clear: only Congress has the power to authorize war. That's why lawmakers have introduced the Kaine-Paul Iran War Powers Resolution (S.J.Res.104) in the Senate and the Khanna-Massie Iran War Powers Resolution (H.Con.Res.38) in the House — and both will be called for a vote next week. If passed, these resolutions would prohibit the president from launching military strikes on Iran without explicit Congressional authorization, reasserting Congress's authority and preventing an unauthorized war. Organized by NIAC Action
Why: Booking.com and Airbnb profit off Israel’s apartheid and ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Palestinian communities by listing illegal settlement properties built on stolen Palestinian land as Israeli rentals. Until they end their complicity in Israel’s apartheid and war crimes, pledge to not make my travel reservations through these aggregators as much as possible, and instead use alternatives or reserve directly with the properties. Organized by BDS Movement
Why: As people across the country condemn yet another illegal, immoral, and unauthorized military action by the White House and Israel, corporate leaders who have been silent and the AI and tech companies whose platforms make wars possible have to take a stand. Organized by May Day Coalition
The QuitGPT campaign is ramping up with over 700,000 more people pledging to delete ChatGPT after Sam Altman made a deal with the Department of War to license the app to them. Join today!
Little (Movement) Wins
How Chilean Workers Beat Google
Activist History
