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Our Mission

Through living simply, supporting one another, and choosing our own path, we can build something better together.
The Quiet Disconnect’s mission is to empower people to opt out of harmful systems and reconnect with themselves and their communities. We exist to help people learn how to withdraw their consent from systems that tend to exploit, distract, and divide.

By taking back our time, attention, and money, we weaken the hold of unfair systems and strengthen our communities’ ability to make their own choices, care about others, and work together.

Reasonable Goals

We’re not here to burn it down. We’re here to stop feeding it. This is how we’ll know it’s working.

Break Free from Dependency

Empower people to choose freedom over convenience by escaping debt, surveillance, and excess.

Indicators of Progress
  • Decline in personal debt and reliance on credit.
  • Growth in privacy-first tech and adoption of simple devices.
  • Reduction in average screen time and digital distractions.
  • More people using cash, analog tools, and non-digital workflows.
  • Mainstream trends reflecting pushback against tech dependency.
  • Increase in number of people switching to non-smartphone devices.
  • Decrease in annual consumer spending on digital subscriptions.

Strengthen Local Community and Connection

Foster real relationships and mutual support, building networks that make us resilient and less isolated.

Indicators of Progress
  • Increase in mutual aid groups, tool libraries, and barter networks.
  • Higher participation in co-ops, farmers markets, and time banks.
  • Growth in local sourcing and direct trade.
  • Local governments funding community resilience initiatives.
  • More local coverage of successful, people-first systems.
  • Rise in local event attendance and volunteer hours tracked.
  • Increase in number of new community gardens and shared spaces.

Reclaim Time, Attention, and Purpose

Help people rediscover meaning beyond consumption and screens. Valuing presence, creativity, and rest.

Indicators of Progress
  • Media narratives shift toward simplicity, rest, and presence.
  • Decline in influencer obsession; rise of anti-branding movements.
  • Growth in reading, outdoor activity, and analog hobbies.
  • Alternative success stories gain recognition.
  • Reduced use of algorithm-driven social media platforms.
  • Increase in average hours spent on offline activities per week.
  • Growth in library memberships and book club participation.

Support Real Alternatives and Autonomy

Make open-source, decentralized, and people-first tools accessible to all. So everyone can opt out.

Indicators of Progress
  • Open-source tools gain ground over corporate platforms.
  • Decentralized platforms reach critical mass.
  • Privacy-first services become everyday tools.
  • Crowdfunding, co-ops, and collectives replace traditional funding models.
  • Laws shift toward right to repair, data ownership, and digital autonomy.
  • Increase in number of open-source software downloads and contributors.
  • Growth in adoption rates of decentralized communication platforms.

Normalize Peaceful Non-Participation

Make opting out and unplugging a respected, everyday choice; not a radical act.

Indicators of Progress
  • More people disengage from major platforms.
  • Tech minimalism and unplugging become common lifestyle choices.
  • Employers, schools, and cities reduce reliance on surveillance tools.
  • Artists and public figures actively reject algorithmic visibility.
  • Media and art celebrate disconnection and intentional living.
  • Increase in number of workplaces adopting privacy-first policies.
  • Growth in annual sales of non-digital leisure products.

Make Exit and Alternatives Accessible

Ensure everyone (not just the privileged) can disconnect, rebuild, and thrive.

Indicators of Progress
  • Open-source and community-built tools reach underserved groups.
  • Opt-out guides are translated, localized, and widely distributed.
  • Mutual aid and low-tech living expand in marginalized communities.
  • Affordable access to privacy tools, public spaces, and offline options increases.
  • Diverse voices lead and reshape the resistance narrative.
  • Increase in number of translated guides and resources available online.
  • Growth in funding for community tech and low-tech initiatives.

Reduce Harm to the Earth

Shrink the environmental cost of digital infrastructure and consumer culture. Care for our shared home.

Indicators of Progress
  • Less e-waste and reduced demand for frequent tech upgrades.
  • Right-to-repair laws and sustainable product design gain traction.
  • Secondhand tech markets and long-life devices become more common.
  • Greater awareness of the environmental cost of constant connectivity.
  • Environmental groups adopt digital minimalism and degrowth strategies.
  • Decrease in annual electronic waste tonnage.
  • Increase in number of products certified for repairability and sustainability.

Reconnect with Meaning and Each Other

Help people find purpose, belonging, and joy in real life through creativity, service, and community.

Indicators of Progress
  • Revival of local arts, analog spaces, and community creativity.
  • Growth in volunteerism, real-life friendships, and hands-on skill sharing.
  • Mental health improves alongside reduced digital dependence.
  • Rise of non-algorithmic culture: zines, book clubs, workshops, etc.
  • Cultural recognition shifts toward caretakers, teachers, and makers; not influencers.
  • Increase in number of local arts events and creative workshops held.
  • Growth in mental health metrics linked to reduced screen time.

Change the Narrative

Shift the public conversation toward freedom, dignity, and collective action so resistance becomes hope.

Indicators of Progress
  • Alternative media and independent voices gain mainstream reach.
  • Public trust in corporate media continues to decline.
  • Language like 'opt out,' 'mutual aid,' and 'digital minimalism' becomes normalized.
  • Popular culture critiques surveillance, hustle culture, and consumerism.
  • Stories of autonomy and disconnection become part of collective memory.
  • Increase in number of published articles and books on digital minimalism.
  • Growth in independent media audience and engagement statistics.

Restore Trust and Transparency

Rebuild trust in our systems and each other by championing honesty, openness, and accountability everywhere.

Indicators of Progress
  • Public institutions and tech platforms adopt transparent, open processes.
  • Community-led audits and citizen oversight become common.
  • Greater access to information and open data for all.
  • People demand and receive honest communication from leaders and companies.
  • Trust grows through shared truth, accountability, and collaboration.
  • Increase in number of public transparency reports published annually.
  • Growth in participation rates for citizen oversight initiatives.

Supporting This Site

Contribute to the content: https://github.com/thequietdisconnect/website
Download, print, and distribute physical media
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Email us: [email protected]

"We are power. We are the energy that runs through all things. The system is only as strong as our willingness to feed it."

-John Trudell