Latest / Follow the Leighder / Democratic Socialism, Explained | Matt Kortan

Transcript

Democratic Socialism, Explained | Matt Kortan · Follow the Leighder

• Leigh/@followtheleighder: Howdy folks and welcome back to another episode of Follow the Leighder. I'm your host, Leigh Larson, y'all I am really excited to bring it to you. Right from the studio is Matt Kortan. Matt, welcome. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: I'm also really excited to be here. Thank you so much for doing this. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Man, folks, you know how we love talking to folks about all sorts of things. And especially when I heard that Montana had a democratic socialist presence, I had to know, talk to me, what does that look like? And that's what Matt's here doing today. He's based out of Bozeman, Montana. He was a middle school teacher and also did work ⁓ as an educator at the Museum of the Rockies. ⁓ as well as the Montana Raptor Conservation Center. So first of all, Matt, thank you for your heart, ⁓ for serving towards conservation. ⁓ But tell us, can you tell us a little bit, what is it democratic socialist? That word sounds, is kind of new. Can you explain to us what that is? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Thank Yeah, it's scary for a lot of people, I think. ⁓ But it's not really like that. think for me, ⁓ it ultimately always just comes back to building systems that work for the working class, working for everyday people. And the less scary part of the title, I guess, is democratic. So empowering regular everyday people to build out institutions that work for them and that they want to see. ⁓ You know, I think right now in the system that we live under, see, ⁓ you know, no matter which way people vote in elections, you know, nationally, state, local, whatever, they'll vote for people and nobody ends up getting what they want. And so one of the big aims of the DSA and in our chapter is to address some of those things. So, know, nationally things on the agenda are things like Medicare for All, canceling student debt. ⁓ But I'm more, I've always been more focused locally and just trying to do what I can in my community. And some of the things that we're doing here that are really exciting are ⁓ trying to work on affordable housing ⁓ through a social housing campaign. which has been really cool and there's housing policy goes so deep and intricate. can't even begin to talk about it. ⁓ We help with food security by organizing mutual aid efforts and food distributions. ⁓ We help tend the only publicly accessible community garden in the city of Bozeman at Story Mill Park for those of you. Bozeman people that are listening And then what I'm mostly involved in is AI data centers, which is kind of what I came here to talk about ⁓ So we're working to build a statewide coalition of Montanans who are opposed to or at least want to make their concerns heard about ⁓ Numerous proposed AI data center projects throughout the state so there's like three and a half of them right now and we can talk more about the specifics later, but ⁓ you know, so far in our efforts with that and pretty much with everything, we come to find that like, whether you identify as a socialist or not, these issues affect you. Like data centers are coming and they're going to affect us all, whether we're socialists or not. ⁓ you know, we really encourage people to, ⁓ yeah, just stand up for their community, protect one another. We try to have everyone's back. We welcome everyone to our events and Yeah, we've gotten really good turnout and reaction to it so far Leigh/@followtheleighder: And I appreciate that you brought up the less scary part of that phrase is the democratic socialism. The people get to choose. which aspects of the state of society they want to be socialized. It's not socialism for the whole thing. It's not commune. It's individualized parts. mean, we already see that the way we fund our police, our fire. Like there's already aspects that we're all coming together and providing and ⁓ just kind of taking that to the next level because right now it feels like we're not doing a good job of either. Like this weird mix that we have, like... Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Right. ⁓ Leigh/@followtheleighder: I know up here in Great Falls, about to push, ⁓ I know a significant issue up here is just the lack of funding we have for public safety. ⁓ And again, like it's just like, that's all of us together. So I'm choosing ⁓ to democratically to fund that. again, thanks for that. And can you tell me just why has, and we will get to your AI data centers, but can you tell me why folks would... Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Absolutely. Leigh/@followtheleighder: want to be a democratic socialist versus a democrat? How is that different from the quote status quo? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Sure, yeah. I think obviously there are big differences between Donald Trump and the Republican Party and the Democratic Party as it stands right now. ⁓ Although ultimately I would say that they're both kind of beholden to the same interests of the corporations and the billionaires and that neither party looks out for everyday people. ⁓ I think You know, with like Joe Biden, Joe Biden's presidency was one of the main things that led to the second Trump term and him having this perceived mandate to just walk all over the constitution and the law because, you know, people were so dissatisfied with the status quo under democratic leadership. and even though it wasn't as offensive and grotesque and fast-paced as it is right now, I think the Democratic Party ultimately stands for lot of the same things and values a lot of the same things that the Republican Party does. They just go about it a different way. And neither are truly pushing for policies that benefit and favor working-class people. So that's where DSA and the democratic socialists are a little bit different where ⁓ we're trying to center the concerns of everyday people. And even though those aren't always the same from one person to the next, we create spaces where everyone can be heard out, or we try to anyway. So to me, that's the biggest difference. It's not just being disregarded. ⁓ and not having a seat at the table if you don't have the money to pay your way in. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Well, and thank you for that, because I know I get that folks ask, like, well, if it's Democrat, and that's why. The frustrations, feeling like what is really the difference between Republican and Democrat, wanting something that does go towards the working class of the people. So thank you for explaining that, for clarifying and... ⁓ Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: People still get us mixed up a lot. People will come to our events. And in Bozeman, the Democratic Party isn't as much of a dirty word as it is probably in other parts of Montana. So people will come to our events and be like, ⁓ yeah, go Democrats. And we're like, no. Not quite what you did there. Leigh/@followtheleighder: No. That's funny. Well, one thing that you brought up is it doesn't matter what your political beliefs are or where you stand, these AI data centers are coming for all of us. So talk about some of the issues that you're seeing, you've heard about down in Bozeman. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Sure, yeah. I think, you know, kind of the prelude to this, guess, coming from the democratic socialist perspective is like we always talk about how in Montana, like public lands are one of the big unifiers, right? Like you have a lot of people who identify as being on the right, but they like to hunt and they like to fish and they like their access to those lands for snowmobiling or just being out in nature, right? ⁓ And so we know that Montanans, when it comes to protecting our land, can be very feisty, and that's a good thing. And with data centers, we're kind of seeing that as well. So right now, I guess I first heard about this like, I don't know, maybe six months or so ago. So I'm kind of a newcomer, I know. It's been going on longer than that, but. As it stands right now, there are three kind of actively progressing data center proposed data center projects. I said three and a half earlier, because you probably know this in Great Falls. That one's the weekend lover on and on again, off again. So right, right now, like we're not really monitoring that one because I know they've stepped back a bit, but it's, it's like a cancer. can always come back. So I say three and a half. There are two in Butte Silverbough County. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Yeah. ⁓ yeah. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: and then one out near in Broadview near Billings. And so there are these big like hyperscaler projects. you know, the modern iteration of AI. One of the ones near Butte, I know the Atlas, I think is the name of the developer. That's a data center that already exists up there, but they're trying to ⁓ increase their capacity. and build it out bigger and then they have a second one that they're trying to build. But anyway, ⁓ the issues with it and the way it's going to harm all normal working class people are manyfold. ⁓ First off is just the energy rates and energy production. ⁓ And I think the common thread that's going to bind all these things together is just the lack of transparency from Northwestern Energy, our monopoly utility, and from the developers trying to build these things. ⁓ So right now we don't have the infrastructure and the capacity to produce the amount of energy that these data centers would require. ⁓ So it's either going to take on expensive infrastructure projects, which are going to cost Northwestern a lot of money that they could pass on to consumers. And then just the data centers functioning themselves could also raise rates. We've seen it in other states across the US. I went to college in Virginia. Shout out William & Mary. Best university in the world. It's known. People are known to say that, but ⁓ Virginia was one of the first states that was really gung-ho about developing data centers and letting them in and saying, ⁓ it's going to bring all these jobs and all this investment, ⁓ which I think is kind of a half truth. But at the end of the day, we had all these developments. And I know my energy bill went up a lot before I moved out of there and came here. ⁓ That's just one example and I don't know why we would expect it to be any different here, ⁓ especially without input from the public and from everyday people, which is kind what we're working towards. So energy rates are one. Water usage is the one that you hear a lot about in the news, and especially with our climate and with the lack of snowfall we've had this year. ⁓ It is, it's definitely a genuine concern about like, where is this water going to come from? And like, why is it just being disregarded? And again, like that's something Northwestern has kind of been tiki-taki about getting into is like, where are you going to get the water from? And if you have to build pipelines, that's going to be another expensive infrastructure project that can get passed on to consumers. ⁓ And then like other things that I think people don't talk about as much. The big one for me is noise. So data centers are super duper noisy. People who haven't lived near them might not know that. ⁓ Which for me is like, it's, you know, a common annoyance, but also like we have one of the last like mostly intact ecosystems in the world, right? With our grassland, prairie. leading up into the mountains. And like that noise is going to scare animals and disrupt the movement of wildlife. Which for me, like, I feel bad for the animals. They don't deserve that. And also Bozeman, this is something I've been trying to talk about a lot in Bozeman since a lot of our economy is tourism from Yellowstone and people coming from all over the world to see our animals and... you know, if their movements throughout the state are going to be disrupted by data centers, like, I don't know, just trying to push this idea that we all live downstream. And while we want to protect and stand up for the people in Billings and Butte and Great Falls who are like being directly threatened by these developments. ⁓ I want people here to recognize that like, it's still going to affect us. And it's still going to affect folks in Missoula. ⁓ and all across the state if we allow these things to get built without guardrails. So yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Well, and it absolutely is one thing that you you talked about. And I'm glad you brought that up, because I haven't heard too much about animal migration or how it impacts wildlife. But you're right in that noise would be a detractor. ⁓ as well as any sort of contaminants or pollutants that may or may not come out of the processing. I've also heard about the processing where the water is very warm towards the end, like the water's so heated that you can't pour boiling water back into the river because it will upset the ecosystem, especially if you're just dumping boiling water consistently. And ⁓ it's... It's all going straight at the heart of exactly what you said earlier, that public lands, like for Montanans, you're talking about messing with someone's fishing. You're talking about messing with someone's elk hunt that season. ⁓ And all for what? Like you said, you're not seeing a lot of labor come from the jobs, from these data centers or any long-term labor, which maybe could be a good argument, but. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. ⁓ Leigh/@followtheleighder: They're warehouses for servers. And how have you seen the conversations go in Bozeman? Have you been able to connect well with people? What's the temper down there? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: ⁓ yeah, so you're actually reminding me of what I'm here to plug, which ⁓ we've been having a series of community discussions, we've been calling them, at the library, which is where I am now, actually. We had one back in December, and I was very pleasantly surprised, because we did a horrible job at promoting it. We put posters out like two days before, but it was like maybe 40 people there. It wasn't as cool as the ones that you guys posted about. Those got way bigger turnout, but we're having another one on the 18th, so next Wednesday at 630. Bozeman Public Library. Bozeman people will be there. ⁓ But the first one was like, I don't know. I was kind of expecting it to just be like, you know, DSA people and my friends and that was it. But no, we ended up having, you know, people affiliated with like political campaigns and journalists and lawyers. ⁓ Republicans were there. The talk of the night, the highlight was this one guy who I won't name his name, partly because I don't remember it. But. But he like raises his hand and he's like, Oh yeah. He says something along the lines of like, yeah, I'm the black sheep in the room. Like, I'm, I'm, you know, I support, um, or I'm against abortions. And then my friends and I'll just kind of like side eyeing each other. Like, where is he going with this? But we're all looking around like who invited this guy, but he ended, like, he actually had a really insightful comment about. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Right, right, Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Some of the things I talked about in the intro here, just like, you you may, you guys have your beliefs, I have my beliefs, they're very different in a lot of ways, but this is something we can come together on. Because if we don't protect our lands, we're all going to suffer and ⁓ this is something we all value. It's how we build our identity as Montanans. ⁓ And so by the time you stop talking, everyone's like, yeah, this guy's awesome. We're glad he's here. And it was just cool to see, you know, again, like people coming together from all sides of the political world that we live in and being willing to have these conversations and share their perspectives ⁓ and, you know, not being afraid of the fact that it says socialist on the poster. Which is like something, you know, something that personally we might need to rethink going forward. Cause it's like, I don't know that I would be brave enough if there was an event called like Trumpers against data centers or something to go to that. So from the perspective of someone on the other side, it's like, I think it took courage to show up and be like, yeah, I don't agree with you guys on most things, but I'm here to help and connect with you on this. ⁓ and then like another thing we've been really putting a lot of effort into is farmers. which there weren't any farmers at our first event, but we've been really making efforts to reach out to farmers across the state. I went to a talk at the museum the other night of farmers. It like a panel of farmers talking about like why they've adopted solar and how that helps address some of their energy concerns on their, you know, their smaller family farms. And I was like, yeah, man, like. I like these are really valid concerns and I'm glad you're turning to solar, but also like this whole AI thing is kind of messed up, right? And they seem very receptive to it too. So hopefully they'll come to our event and, you know, kind of share their perspective on. Leigh/@followtheleighder: And is. It's ⁓ interesting to see the different ways that people come over to the other side or just like how complex and nuanced or really, I mean, like how challenging the two party system can be, which is kind of what you were talking about, creating a DSA as like a third other way. and. ⁓ Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: All Leigh/@followtheleighder: But yeah, I can imagine if someone stood up and was like, I have this opinion about abortion. And you're like, this is an AI data center talk. What are you doing? But. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Thank He was like the first guy to say something too. Like he was, he had his comment ready. Leigh/@followtheleighder: But no, I think to your point that he probably was scared and admitting that and owning it and then saying, but I want to be in the room. Like, here's was probably his way of checking to make sure no one was going to run him out, you know? ⁓ Can I trust myself to be here? But that's cool. And it's cool that you listen to him. And then, like you said, ⁓ Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. you Leigh/@followtheleighder: Once people start thinking about either solar energy, renewable energy, and they just kind of start thinking, it really is not a short throw to be like, and now AI, because it just doesn't seem to end. ⁓ Whether it's your own energy needs and your own electric bill and like, okay, I'm gonna get solar to deal with that. And then it's like, okay, but AI is gonna also rack up your electric bill. And they're like, what? ⁓ Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. Yeah, I thought I figured this out. What's going on? Leigh/@followtheleighder: Yeah, like I'm trying to be a good person and I'm like, yeah, like, like, this is why politics are real. Like, because it doesn't, it changes. like there are always systems that are just trying to get your money in the least way possible. ⁓ But when you look and talk to these farmers, I know that you said the first initial time wasn't as much, but now, Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: you Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: So what does that look like to make those connections? Are you showing up to like farmers union type meetings or like how do you find your farmer base? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah, I know we looked at the, I forget what his title was, but one of the main guys at the Farmers Union put out like a testimony, this long, well, very well thought out thing. I encourage people to read it. Talking about the concerns that they have with data center development and how it's going to affect their family farms and. swing the pendulum toward bigger corporate farms, which is another thing that I don't think people want brought here in large scale to the extent that they haven't already. ⁓ So like, and he was actually on the panel too. I'm also forgetting his name. I feel bad. I'm like name dropping people without name dropping them, but. Leigh/@followtheleighder: No, and it's okay. But yeah, the farmers have a vested interest. I posted a fake fear-mongering video recently. was like, do you understand how much beer we grow for you guys? I was like, America, you need to get involved in this AI data center thing in Montana. This is your beer and wheat. ⁓ Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Sorry, this game is over. ⁓ Yeah, and then just like, you you make connections along the way, like where I work right now at the HRDC in town, like one of our receptionists, I just learned like the other day, it's like, yeah, I'm a far obviously. Leigh/@followtheleighder: ⁓ and sorry, Matt, real quick for the audience. Can you spell out what HRDC means? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Oh yes, that's the Human Resource Development Council, which does a lot of things like the shelter, the food bank, housing assistance, energy assistance, very wide tent. But one of my coworkers there, I was talking to her today and she's like, yeah, I used to be a farmer. And I was like, oh, no way. I've been looking for farmers. I haven't gotten on FarmersOnly.com yet, but I've been looking for farmers. And so that was cool to run into her or with like the DSA, we do a lot of gardening, like I mentioned at the public garden and like mutual aid food distribution. And that's another thing that kind of attracts farmers in like moths to a flame. Like, yeah, I'm really interested in like sustainable food systems and food rescue and that type of stuff. So. I've met a lot of farmers through that too. And then I'm like, oh, you should also check out our AI stuff that we have going on. um, I think a lot of my connection with farmers thus far has been luck to be honest, just like running into people and like, yeah, I'm a farmer, um, like going to the event the other night on the solar was more of a concerted effort to like seek out, you know, if I were a farmer, where would I be on a Tuesday night? So. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Absolutely. ⁓ So you're based out of Bozeman. Have you seen or heard about other DSA groups around Montana? You have? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. Yeah, Missoula has a pretty active chapter that we keep in touch with. ⁓ We've had some members move back and forth. And then I think before my time, I think there was a chapter in Helena or Billings or something. But I don't know because I only moved here a couple of years ago. And only joined DLSA like six months ago. And as far as I've been around, Those have been the two like active chapters. ⁓ I know we have like free agent members and you know, Billings, Butte, Helena, Mazooka. Yeah, Billings, Helena, Butte, Great Falls, wherever. like, they're like in our group chats and stuff and just like people we connect with, but they don't have like active chapters. ⁓ Because those are going to be as a national organization. I think I mentioned that. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Yeah, I just, yeah. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: actually, but it's like a national organization and there's chapters in different cities. Leigh/@followtheleighder: And interestingly enough, Montana's background is very union friendly. It kind of reminds me of Appalachia. Like there is a quite bit of that ⁓ old school Democrat, like blue collar, hate the man type. And ⁓ I even read, and I gotta go double check to confirm the name, but there was like a whole, was it Fort Peck? No, I don't know. But there was like a whole like commune. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. Thank ⁓ Leigh/@followtheleighder: Like here in Montana, that was sizable. there's lots of, and I think it all rallied around the dam and like all sorts, but these little instances of people looking out for one another and constructing democratically societies and communities that fit their needs specifically is not new to Montana. In fact, it's how a lot of folks out in the West survived until things became state. state size but and that's what I think is particularly interesting is a lot of these ideas are just being like rebranded reshut like kind of ⁓ because the the main problems haven't changed corporate tyranny is still here ⁓ and people will defend corporate welfare before they defend social wealth and I don't understand it I can't and I don't know. It's I think for whatever's going to happen with the DSA, think both Minamizula are awesome places to start those while also knowing that that's not unheard of necessarily in Montana. So it's there's there's an audience that you can reach is what I'm trying to say. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah, absolutely. think, you know, just how turbulent everything's been in the past year, year and a half. Like, I know I was part of this membership drive and like our, you know, the chapter has grown like exponentially in the last six, seven months, which is really like, I don't know. If I were to say that there were a positive or bright side of the chaos that we're all enduring right now, I think it's the fact that a lot of people have been motivated to actually go out and do something and engage with their community, whether that's joining DSA or otherwise. Like, ⁓ for me, it was easy to doom scroll and get sucked in by the news and talk about, my God, this is all so horrible. All these things that are going on. And then one day I just realized like, man, well, what am I doing about it? You know? And I think a lot of people are coming to that realization that if we actually just talk to real people and not, you know, bots in the comment section or whatever, we can get a lot more done by like, just like, even just like getting to know your neighbors is such a huge thing that a lot of people don't really do anymore. Leigh/@followtheleighder: times. and having space for nuanced conversations. I had a really good interview recently with a good old boy, former Republican, who is now, he's a union carpenter, so now he's leaning left, but still just a good old boy, is at Iowa. And he was talking about specifically the nuclear family from the conservative, just like this emphasis on nuclear family. And he was like, without even touching like LGBTQ, which is its own conversation. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Haha. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Like the nuclear fan, he was like, my dad, he was talking about his dad's alcoholism and his dad was out of the house. And by 15, he's the one that's making bill, paying the bills for his mom. But we don't have any sort of way to like recognize that for taxes. Like we shame that we have all sorts of narratives. And then, you know, I think like there's the other stories where like, you know, you're. The best friend moves in because he doesn't have the stable home life. You know, all these different ways that like our nuclear family isn't nuclear. It's very messy. And you don't even have to necessarily like violate the in their perspective, like the gender rules that they have. But without violating what it means to be a nuclear family, stepfamilies, divorce, like all those different things. And I thought that was such a different perspective because I'm used to fighting against the nuclear family on Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: I Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: you know, divorce rights or queer or like whatever, not against the nuclear family, but just that phrasing. And so it was cool to have someone add a new element to it, again, but just in a slightly different way. so kind of like what you're finding, like we do all have a different angle and a different buy-in to certain issues that affect us all. And... I mean, the last few years have been, like you said, really terrible, even online, lots of really polarizing stuff. And I don't know if it's the last year where we're just exhausted or something, but I'm not as aggressive or hostile. I have one group that I am and then everyone else. I have a lot more grace. I'm like, okay. I'm not platforming that. That is, we're like... Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Sometimes you gotta work it up a little bit. Leigh/@followtheleighder: And, but I was like, everything else and let's talk about it. And, but again, these conversations and Montana has, it is a bit more libertarian just in forms of individual rights and, and yes, libertarian values, but also just being able to have a more independent thinking kind of like your, your, your MAGA Trump person that arrived at the DSA meeting. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Mm-hmm. I'm Leigh/@followtheleighder: So how can folks get involved with you? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: with the DSA. We have a website. We have an email that's on the website. But I think the best way to get involved is to go to our events, which are mainly platformed on our Instagram. I think it's bozemandsa as the handle or something like that. You type bozemandsa into the search bar. You'll get far enough with that. ⁓ But yeah, just really encouraging people to show up to events, because kind of like we've been talking about this whole time, like, We're willing to work with anybody and talk to anybody on any issue that affects the working class and that we think can harm the working class or make things better for the working class. yeah, we're doing a lot of events. We have a weekly food distribution at the library on Sundays at 10. Those are a popular one where it's outside. It hasn't been cold, which is good. I for that. Not so much for other things, but people just swing by and they're like, ⁓ what is this? And then they're like, ⁓ that's cool. Like, who are you guys? And then we get to talk about that. ⁓ I'm like one of the lamest people in DSA because I'm not in a band. Like the vast majority of the others are in bands and they're constantly like playing shows, benefit shows. ⁓ So that's like, you know, we always promote those on our Instagram, which are cool. You know, we're not always serious and talking about Karl Marx all the time. We know how to have fun. So, yeah. I would definitely say go to events is the best way to get plugged in or just follow the Instagram so you can know what's going on. Leigh/@followtheleighder: that's funny. Absolutely. ⁓ For just AI data centers in general, what are some things that folks should be paying attention to, listening to, reading about? ⁓ how, yeah, I mean, that's a great question. What, where do you, if someone was like, this is the first time hearing about this, like AI data centers, ⁓ what's one thing that you really want folks to know? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Thank Sure, yeah, think it kind of depends on where you are. Like, if you're in, you know, Butte, Silver Bow County or Yellowstone County, for those people, I would say just go to like your county commission meetings or your city government meetings, or at least like look at their agendas to see if it's something that they're talking about. Hint, it is something that they're talking about. And I know like, ⁓ Butte has an ad hoc committee that they put together that were, and they have a website, it's the Butte Silver Bow Ad Hoc Data Center Committee, where it's this group of people who were appointed and they just research the developments that are proposed there and how those developments, the impacts they would have. Yeah, and I've had phone conversations with some of them and they're just like the most knowledgeable people on it ever. So the Butte Silver Bow ad hoc data center committee is definitely someone I'd recommend reaching out to if you have like questions, but also just ⁓ following it on like local media. So communities like Bozeman that are not as centered in the discussion, like Bozeman Daily Chronicle still posts articles about it all the time. ⁓ A lot of people who I've never even met before are writing like op-eds and I'm like, who are you? You care, like I need to reconnect with you. ⁓ like Montana free press writes about it a lot. So local media is pretty on top of it for new developments. ⁓ and then like the big one, I guess, is the PSC, the public service commission, who is theoretically tasked with regulating Northwestern energy. ⁓ since it's like the only game in town for utilities. So even though they're a private company, they're regulated by this public body of elected officials. And they meet on Tuesdays, I think. They always meet at weird times, though. Sometimes they meet at like nine in the morning. And I feel like they keep it a secret until the last minute to throw people off, but that's a conspiracy. So don't. Take that with a grain of salt, but the PSC is constantly talking about data centers or Northwestern rate hikes on their agendas. So I would say look into them a little bit and find out who your PSC rep is. I'm blanking on how many there are. I think there's like five or something, or six, but... Everyone in Montana is represented by somebody in the PSC, so you can look that up on their website and figure out ⁓ who you're able to contact. And when you see an agenda item with data centers, that's a good person to reach out to and ⁓ express your opinions. Leigh/@followtheleighder: I was just backing that up with going to the Public Service Commission. Super easy to figure that out, folks. Like, as he said it, I was like, there it is. But absolutely. And I look forward to hearing more from you and really the Democrat, sorry, Bozeman DSA, ⁓ Instagram handle, just learning more ⁓ while... Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. and that's it. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Democratic socialism or socialized services isn't necessarily, like I said, new. The way we're talking about it is in the different interests and points of views. And I encourage folks to continue researching, going to these meetings, at least learning. ⁓ Whether you agree and want to be a part, or at least you know more and can accurately say what you disagree with, which is more respectable than saying, I don't know anything about it, but I'm scared of it. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. I'm Leigh/@followtheleighder: like, isn't that Soviet related? And you're like, wait, OK, hold on. So. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah, no, totally. Yeah, I have a lot of respect for people that like can actually engage in a thoughtful conversation and disagreement. Like, that's pretty cool. And that's something I could be better at myself, honestly. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Right. But absolutely. I really appreciate you being here. And one of the points you brought up, folks, and I want to remind ⁓ you all, like, this is something you need to bring to your political candidates. When folks are running for office, ask them these questions. This is not like don't just hope for the best. ⁓ Early on, how are you going to legislate and look after Montanans in light of AI data centers? ⁓ There's a wide, well, I say that. A lot of folks are very much like no AI data centers whatsoever, none. Other folks are like, okay, well, maybe not. Maybe if there's more regulation or maybe something else. ⁓ And then there are those, and I don't really know if there's anyone that's like too pro AI data center man, except for like, maybe the people who might have some contract benefit too. don't, but yeah, I guess there could be some, or maybe they're just tech people that want that. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: There's some. Leigh/@followtheleighder: power here, I don't know. ⁓ point being is, is there's a lot of room to hold your your political candidates accountable, your elected officials accountable, and to make this a major interest. Montana, especially y'all have y'all Montana has been especially ⁓ affected by the copper kings and by copper mining monopolies. And like, we just know how that can go. So ⁓ Folks, I really hope that y'all enjoyed your chat today with Matt. He is down, like I said, in Bozeman, and you can find that through the Bozeman DSA Instagram, as he said. And really, I just can't wait to hear more, learn more, see what y'all do, and make some noise here in Montana. Break up some of that polarized thinking and ⁓ try to find different ways that we can come together. You're doing good work. Anyone who's out organizing is doing good work. ⁓ Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Thank We do what we can. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Matt, are there any final words before I wrap this up? Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah, I guess I just want to plug our next community conversation one more time. It's going to be Wednesday, February 18th at the Bozeman Public Library and on Zoom. And on Zoom, which the link for that will be on the Instagram and potentially some other social medias, but Instagram is the one we use the most. And that's Wednesday, February 18th at the Bozeman Public Library at 6.30 PM. And it goes to like eight. ⁓ so yeah, thank you again for having me on. This has been awesome. And I've never been on a podcast before, so hopefully I was smooth talking enough. Leigh/@followtheleighder: You were all good. No, I love that you came on. had a very specific purpose. You want to bring attention to the democratic socialist of Bozeman and your AI data center. And that's what you did. I love that. Lots of people come on with all sorts of bigger, want to talk about everything under the sun. And I'm like, we only have like 45, 50 minutes, my guy. Yeah, of only. Well, ⁓ folks. Matt Kortan, MT Dem Socialists: Yeah. If we could talk about everything, if only we had more time. Leigh/@followtheleighder: That is another episode of Follow the Leighder. I'm your host, Leigh Larson. We're here with Matt Corton again of the Bozeman Democratic Socialist. Folks, heard it. What'd think? Tell me, did you like it? Let me know in the comments. Like, follow, subscribe. I gotta hear from you. ⁓ remember, if you have any questions, follow this up. Like, do some research. You wanna know more about Democratic Socialists? See what is local to you ⁓ learn more. ⁓ Other than that, I will see y'all folks next time on Follow the Leighder. Bye bye.