The People Just Beat Google. Here’s Why It Matters.

The crowd roared and global power bent to local power.

Last week, we talked about blackouts. But we need more than warnings, right? I believe we need regular reminders and proof that ordinary citizens can change the story in their communities because too often we are led to believe that we are powerless cogs in a machine.

So, I love this story from Franklin Township, Indiana, that just broke, where locals dissolved their differences and worked together to effectively beat a Google data center, which would have used 1 million gallons of local water per day.

Here’s what happened:

One of the world’s most powerful corporations, backed by lawyers, lobbyists, and political machinery, came to rezone nearly 500 acres for a massive Google data center campus. The plan looked inevitable.

But the people weren’t having it.

Neighbors organized across political lines. Farmers, homeowners, parents, retirees. They filled community halls. They covered yards with signs. Hundreds packed City Hall so tightly that the chamber was standing-room only.

And minutes before the scheduled vote, Google withdrew its petition.

The crowd roared and global power bent to local power.

Here’s a short video by More Perfect Union who captured the event and beautifully summarized the situation:

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A Pattern Is Emerging

Franklin Township wasn’t an isolated miracle. It’s part of a growing pattern.

• In Peculiar, Missouri, more than 1,000 locals joined a Facebook group called Don’t Dump Data on Peculiar. They rallied, showed up in force. They held prayer circles at the proposed site. City leaders reversed their earlier zoning approval.

• In Chesterton, Indiana, residents put “No Data Center” signs in their yards, and developers abandoned the project.

• In College Station, Texas, hundreds turned up to testify against a 600-megawatt project. The city council voted it down.

• In San Marcos, Texas, the council deadlocked on a zoning change. Without the needed supermajority, the project stalled.

Each of these towns learned from places like Loudoun County, Virginia where it’s now too late. Loudoun gets over a third of its budget from data centers, but residents had little say before the build-out. Today, they’re fighting transmission lines and noise instead of deciding whether the projects should exist in the first place.

Franklin Township and Peculiar acted early. And they won.

A report from Data Center Watch says: $64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been blocked or delayed by a growing wave of local, bipartisan opposition.

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What’s Really at Stake

On paper, these fights are about water, land, and zoning. But scratch the surface and you find something deeper.

Property ownership isn’t just paperwork. It’s independence. If you can decide how your land is used, you have a piece of freedom that no corporation or government can override.

History shows what happens when that independence is stripped away. Systems like socialism and communism work by weakening families and dissolving communities, leaving individuals dependent on the state. Destroying private property has always been one of their hallmarks.

That’s why these local victories matter so much. Whether the locals had that in mind or not, the people in Franklin Township and Peculiar defended more than just their acreage. They defended the principle that families and communities—not distant powers—decide their future.

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Division Melts When the Stakes Are Local

We’re told every day that America is hopelessly divided. Red versus blue. Left versus right. But when the stakes are close to home—the ground under your feet, the water from your tap, the lights in your house—those divides fade.

Look at Franklin Township. It wasn’t “Republicans versus Democrats.” It was neighbors standing shoulder to shoulder.

(Image: Hundreds of Franklin Township community members cheer after Google announces they will withdraw. Credit: WTHR)

Community is the layer just above family. Together, they’re the strongest shield against outside control. And when people reclaim that shield, it reminds the rest of us what freedom looks like.

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Why This Isn’t Over

It’s important to remember: Franklin Township’s win isn’t final. Google didn’t lose the legal right forever. Google withdrew the petition, but they can, and most likely will, quietly come back with another version of the plan. Big corporations play the long game, and they often wait for attention to fade before refiling.

That’s why vigilance matters. Victories like this one are only secured if communities stay organized, keep watch on the filings, and refuse to let fatigue, apathy or division set in.

This week in the paid edition of MIND ARMOR: The Dark Side, I break down the hidden strategies corporations use to silence communities—from divide-and-distract tactics to economic sweeteners—and how locals can beat them. Franklin Township won round one. But to win the long game, we need to understand the playbook.

Become a paying member to access the MIND ARMOR: The Dark Side report here.

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Remember Who We Are

Human beings carry something no algorithm, no corporation, and no government (and not even scientists!) can touch: consciousness, free will, and the ability to stand together.

Alone, it’s easy to feel small, disconnected, and even afraid to speak up. That’s by design. Big powers know that isolated people are easy to manage.

But together—rooted in family, bound by community—we are unstoppable.

That’s what Franklin Township just proved. That’s what Peculiar proved. That’s what hundreds of towns across America are rediscovering.

And that’s why, no matter how much division is pushed from the top down, the truth remains: we have the power. We always have. And those who tell us we don’t have either given up themselves or want us to give up. And giving up is the only way we relinquish our innate power.

As always, till next week, wishing you calm within the chaos,

~ Kay

PS. If you are or know any attorneys willing to join in citizen efforts to counter data centers infringing upon local communities across the U.S., please reply and let me know.

PPS. Want to know the playbook Google and others use to silence communities? This week’s MIND ARMOR: The Dark Side breaks down the eight strategies you’ll see in almost every fight like Franklin Township’s, and how to spot them before they’re used against you. Paid members can read it here.

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Kay Rubacek is a strategist trained in marketing and psychology with 25+ years in media and communications. She has written books, produced award-winning films on tyranny, and now advises mission-based leaders on how to use human value and communications to win for good.