Disconnect Newsletter

2 weeks ago | disconnect.blog | Paris Marx

For the past couple weeks, I’ve been in New Zealand and there’s one book I keep hearing about: Sarah Wynn-Williams’ Careless People — because I’m talking to a lot of people about tech and, of course, she happens to be a New Zealander. But even without that fact, it’s a book I’m intrigued to read because of the controversy it’s stirred up and the mixed reactions I’ve seen to it. Certainly, a brutal recounting for Facebook’s leadership, but at the same time, is the narrator truly so innocent?

2 weeks ago | disconnect.blog | Paris Marx

Do you feel liberated? The spectacle Donald Trump put on at the White House this past week was something to behold, not just because of the empty showmanship, but because of how it continues to tank the United States’ relationships with so much of the world — let alone its own economy. You have to wonder at what point it gets so bad the US government is finally pulled into line once again by the country’s own elites, but that also seems hard to imagine for the moment.

1 month ago | disconnect.blog | Paris Marx

“We need a DOGE right now.” Those words were retweeted by Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke in early February, alongside an image calling out an aid initiative funded by the Canadian government in Ghana. As the extreme right in the United States had begun pouring over government spending to pull out any program they deemed too “woke” or wasteful, that same spirit was being seized by fellow travelers beyond its borders.

1 month ago | disconnect.blog | Paris Marx

In recent months, Elon Musk has seemed on top of the world. He made a risky alliance with Donald Trump, who went on to win the presidency, then took the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency (without taking the official title) and has been sending his minions throughout the US government with a directive to gut those aspects of it that don’t align with their worldview.

1 month ago | disconnect.blog | Paris Marx

The United States has declared an imperialist trade war against its neighbors and some of its closest partners: Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump hit the two countries with 25% tariffs on almost all goods, along with 10% on energy and mineral exports. More tariffs could follow in the coming weeks, and he’s justifying them all by saying they’re necessary to force his neighbors to do more to combat the trade of fentanyl. But that’s not the real reason underlying Trump’s tariff policy.