PDT: We Who Loved American Data Centres

I wrote another op-ed on digi.no: Vi som elsket amerikanske datasentre. It’s meant as a short summary of what I’ve been doing with Dawn Treader, along with some hopefully useful hints for others considering the same course of action, either personally or professionally.

The name might seem a bit exotic to someone who didn’t pass through the Norwegian education system, but it is a reference to a well-known essay by the Norwegian author Jens Bjørneboe – “Vi som elsket Amerika“, or “We who loved America”. It was written at the height of the Vietnam war, and it is still relevant to understanding the feelings of those feel let down by the USA.

This is my translation of a key passage:

For me, the USA was still a kind of symbol of everything guaranteeing the human liberties that make life worth living, but less and less so. A love can begin suddenly and passionately, but it dies slowly, little by little. I cannot definitely say when it was, but one day I realised that I no longer loved the USA.

I miss the old days when digital sovereignity wasn’t an issue, because we loved America.