DGG Political Action Award

The engine of political work in this country is unpaid volunteers. People doing long hard work for little to no reward outside of a brief "thank you". To be fair, the people that undertake this kind of work usually aren't motivated by things like praise, it's truly for the love of the game. But that doesn't mean they don't deserve it.

A big reason both the Pragmatic Papers and the DGG Political Action server started was to spur people to actually DO things. During the 24' canvassing program, I saw firsthand how urgent the need for volunteers was, and how quickly you can entrench yourself in your local politics just by showing up. To that end, Sunforger on discord came up with the idea of showcasing the people who do in fact show up, and recognize their efforts. All the way back in Volume 7, we released the story of one of our regulars on the server who was putting in work organizing protests and making his own mark on his local political scene. He approached me about making an article about his experiences and I gladly accepted, relishing the chance to show off real political work. Even though its been 25 volumes since that release, I'd like to continue recognizing the people who deserve it.

With that in mind, the team at DGG Political Action is excited to announce the inaugural winners of the Monthly DGG Political Action Award! Winners will receive a special article in the Papers (like this one), a shoutout and special role on the DGG Political Action Discord, and more as we continue to build on this idea. If you or someone you know deserves a little recognition, FILL OUT THIS GOOGLE FORM. We'd love to hear stories of how people are out there making a difference, even if they aren't DGG regulars.

Without further adieu, the inaugural winners are:

Austin and Pendulum!

Austin worked hard to get a seat on a commission in his local community and helped organize a No Kings Protest with over 20k attendees! Don't take my word for it, take it from the absolute king himself:

Over the last 5 years, I have developed a great concern over the growing wave of Populism enveloping MAGA and the Right as a whole. In truth, I had been a Conservative my entire life, and even still, I choose to describe myself as a 'Republican in the old way.' However, I've watched as the party I once recognized as my own has bent over backwards to sacrifice duty, principle, and legal responsibility, instead embracing the complete will of a demagogue.

While this has been an ever-present concern of mine for years, I finally began to get involved in political action after seeing the Trump administration and the GOP as a whole openly refuse to govern as they took power back in January. Instead, passing everything through executive edict, overstepping the bounds of our Constitution and willfully embracing ideas like Unitary Executive Theory.

Though I had begun to attend protests, gave town hall speeches, wrote letters, etc., it wasn't until June that I really got involved to the extent I am. At that time, my wife had just asked for a divorce, and after going through utter hell for weeks, I started to rebuild myself, focused on helping others, and tried to seek out more direct ways to make change.

As a result, I ended up joining Hands Off! Central Texas, at first volunteering and now directly helping to organize protests and events, including this month's No Kings protest in Austin, TX, where we are expecting up to 25 thousand people. I am extremely proud of the work we do, and it's seemingly bringing a wide breadth of people together.

Additionally, as an attempt to further affect change, I recently took up a City Commissioner seat on the Bond Oversight Commission. This work has already been incredibly rewarding, as we get to provide oversight for what amounts to effectively all spending the city of Austin does.

To end this, I did want to note that much of my inspiration for political action here comes from something I heard on stream. To paraphrase, most folks aren't necessarily attracted to radical political ideas, but rather, they are attracted to the radical representation of them. Though they seem popular, we don't need to embrace Far Left or Far Right ideas to win. We need to radically embrace our own.

Pendulum is the coordinator and lead of the DGG Political Action Media team and is being recognized for his work creating and spearheading this team, as well as for the numerous campaigns and work the team is doing! Here's what he has to say:

When I first joined DGGP, I wasn't sure what it was about and spent time just lurking. But like many in the community, I was looking for a way to contribute to a cause I believed in, as I don’t just want to be a spectator to everything going on in the world. At the time, I was midway through a master's in communications after living abroad for two years. I had studied philosophy as an undergrad and was still figuring out my career direction. Like many people, I had a lot on my plate: thesis planning, job searching, loneliness, and managing my long-distance international marriage.

I found an outlet contributing to DGGP's policy documents on Google Drive. Writing and refining political and ethical arguments was something I genuinely enjoyed, so spending hours at a café working on these docs came naturally. Doing this and being recognized for that work was honestly such a warm and inclusive experience I hadn't anticipated. When I got the opportunity to create something more tangible, a template system, it felt like a natural escalation. Getting promoted to coordinator after three weeks felt amazing and I had to give myself a bit of an ego check, but being recognized for my contributions was honestly a great feeling.

In mid-August, I took on the vacant media team lead role. It felt relevant to my career path and like an opportunity to gain practical experience I was missing from not having an undergrad degree in communications, learning by doing to complement my master's program. But it was also a leap into the unknown. I was building something from scratch within the organization. I had to create a team and sense of purpose where there had only been dormant interest before.

Since this is unfunded volunteer work, I had to think carefully about what was realistic and sustainable. I developed a vision, infrastructure, processes, and systems within our existing framework, creating tools like forms and adapting templates from other team members. There's still more I could be doing, and I haven’t been immune to the autumn blues this year, but I'm proud of what we've built and hopeful about how far we can go.

To anyone considering contributing to DGGP: getting recognized for your work is an incredible feeling. We're all volunteering our time, and I believe we can make a real difference through our activism. I'd encourage anyone to jump in and contribute, even if only for a few minutes. You might be surprised where it leads.