The Placeholder Conversation: DC Edition
Restoring the Agency to Claim the Meaningful Work for Us
"𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡...𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨...
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨,
𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙞𝙩."
(Declaration of Independence, 1776)
Two weeks ago in DC, seeing this at the National Museum of African American History Museum, I felt deeply conflicted.
That sense of conflict was palpable in the public library at McLean, VA, where I held 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 on June 26, 2025. Teachers, nonprofit workers, and government agency workers who were affected by DOGE joined the conversation about creating their own meaningful work.
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. One former USAID staff said: "𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬..." The room felt silent.
𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱, 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟭𝟲,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗱𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗗𝗢𝗚𝗘." As it was unfolding, it felt like a deja vu: the mass layoff in the tech industry between 2022 and 2024. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟱𝟴𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 for financial efficiency by small and big tech firms. In a way, this series of mass layoffs became a huge wake-up call for many people.
Nothing was constant and everything could change. They acknowledged they didn't want to keep doing what they were doing. Some of them had to face the reality that they were conflating their identities with their jobs. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Albeit so many political and systemic issues with DOGE, the lesson is clear once again: 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿.
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗢𝗚𝗘 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗠 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿. If you know someone in your life affected by DOGE layoffs and they need help to navigate how to reset their career, please share this with them.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.