The Tech Placebo

Meditating to TikTok

TikTok has launched a great way to avoid overusing TikTok. It's called TikTok. As the NYT (Gift Article) explains, the app maker has responded to claims it's been harming users' mental health with "a new option: a nightly in-app guided meditation exercisethat is turned on by default for users under 18. At 10 p.m., their For You Page is overtaken by a blue screen and relaxing music, and the user is guided to 'inhale,' 'hold' and 'exhale." I'd have to inhale, hold, and exhale some pretty strong stuff to believe the latest iteration of one of the longest running snake oil pitches: the notion that the problems cause by technology can best be solved with more technology. I've been writing about this issue for years, from the perspective of an addicted insider. Trust me, being more connected can’t cure us of being too connected. Being more wired can’t make us less wired. Using one more app will never equal using one less app. There just isn't an app for that. The idea that we need a technological solution for too much technology is, at best, the Internet era’s great placebo effect. We feel like we’re getting a little better, but that's just part of the same addiction. Because it's their business, tech companies really have no choice but to try to convince us that we're just one more piece of technology away from the solution; but it's like telling us we can use heroin to kick our methadone habit—when we all know deep down that the off switch is the only true killer app. (But who has the attention span to go deep down anymore?)

2

Russell Sprouts

"In a 2023 recording surfaced by ProPublica, Trump budget director Russell Vought said, 'We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.'" For many former federal workers, this strategy has worked. There are two negative outcomes related to this strategy. First, the government is losing good people and expertise and other good experts will be less likely to go into service in the future. Second, there are the human costs. Both are part of the plan. WaPo (Gift Article): White House officials wanted to put federal workers ‘in trauma.’ It’s working. "Federal workers describe struggling with panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts. 'Why doesn’t anyone care?'"

+ "Some of the damage Trump has inflicted can be repaired by future administrations, but repairing relations with American allies, the restoration of lost government expertise and a return to productive research may take years, even with a new and determined president and Congress." Thomas B. Edsall talks to the experts about Trump's unprecedented reign of destruction. The President Will Destroy You Now. Paul Rosenzweig, a deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Department of Homeland Security under George W. Bush fears that "the damage is permanent. Not because it cannot be fixed — it can be with effort. But rather because nobody will ever trust the United States again that something Trump-like won’t recur. Would you as a young person take a federal job today? Would you as a foreign student trust that you could attend university in the United States safely? Would you as a European government trust the United States to maintain the security of your secrets?"

3

Off Campus

"College towns are now threatened by federal-funding cuts from the Trump administration, resulting in hiring freezes and layoffs at Ivy League and state schools alike. Administration efforts to cancel student visas might hurt state college budgets, since most international students pay higher, out-of-state tuition. Even worse, the number of students graduating from American high schools is expected to start falling next spring, after reaching a record high this year. In 2007, the number of U.S. births peaked at 4.3 million and has been falling almost every year since." Long-term trends and short-term political strategies are creating a perfect storm that's wiping out many American college towns, many of which are in areas that have suffered industry-related wipeouts in the past. WSJ: America’s College Towns Go From Boom to Bust.

4

It All Ads Up

"Ad-supported tiers are proving to be popular with streaming customers. New data from subscription analyst firm Antenna shows that 46 percent of Discovery Plus, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount Plus, and Peacock subscribers in the US are paying for ad-supported plans, and that around 75 percent of subscribers have at least tried them." We were promised flying jetpacks and we got TV viewers who are now paying for content and watching commercials.

5

Extra, Extra

Deficit Com: White House says the 'big beautiful bill' will lower the US deficit. Analysts say that's off by trillions. (But it's still not off by as much as the notion that this budget plan has anything to do with saving money.) WaPo: Why Moody’s picked now to downgrade the United States. "Moody’s didn’t just pick a random Friday in May to make this move. Moody’s wanted to send a message to Republicans in Congress: Rethink the tax bill. Or, better yet, don’t do it."

+ Partners in Crime: "The head lawyer of a human rights group representing the families of Venezuelan immigrants imprisoned in El Salvador after being deported from the United States has been arrested." (This is who we are now...) Meanwhile, Bukele’s crackdown pushes top Salvadoran journalists to flee.

+ Hey BS: During a Senate hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked about Habeas Corpus. She said: "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country."

+ Tax Hacks: "If confirmed, Mr. Long would become the first official head of the I.R.S. under the Trump administration but the sixth person to lead the agency since the beginning of the year." Trump’s Pick to Lead I.R.S. Promoted a Nonexistent Tax Credit. He also has zero qualifications for the role. Anyone willing to bet against him being confirmed?

+ Gaza Aid: "On Monday, for the first time in two and a half months, Netanyahu permitted a handful of trucks carrying aid to enter Gaza. He said he had been pressured into easing the total blockade by allies who could not tolerate 'images of mass famine.'" (Bibi is losing allies almost as fast as Trump.)

+ Like 8.23 Billion Peas in a Pod: "Imagine walking down the street and feeling an overwhelming love and warmth for every single person that you met." Nope, sorry, I read news for a living. I can't even imagine that. But it's a real thing. BBC: Williams Syndrome: The people who are too friendly.

6

Bottom of the News

"Every time he hears about a U.S. company distancing itself from DEI, David Markley winces. Markley runs a car-parts manufacturing firm in Ohio named Design Engineering Inc. Yes, he sighs, that’s D-E-I." The Plight of Sharing a Name With a Culture-War Target. It could be worse. "Some students and alumni from Elon University in North Carolina have lamented on social media that they avoid wearing school gear that has just 'Elon' emblazoned on it."

+ "The driver drove miles along the interior and restricted roads at the airport and possibly even crossed runways — before someone in the air traffic control tower saw him." Was it a security threat? Nah. It was just a metaphor for our times. DoorDash driver sparks security alert at major airport.