Especially in failure, there are important lessons to learn. This was certainly the case with Blue Club and Red Club, which have now combined into the much more successful and productive Political Discussion Club. While both had many members around the time of the election, attendance declined afterward, in no small part due to the clubs serving more as echo chambers than as productive sessions. A topic would be presented, and someone would share their opinion; everybody would generally nod their heads in agreement. The most productive meeting of last year was the one where the Blue and Red Clubs combined to discuss immigration policy. Nobody was ‘won over’ to another side, but that wasn’t necessarily the point. What was important was that the group had a respectful and thoughtful discussion, with each side of the aisle being able to learn more about why the opposite side thinks the way they do.
I think that is the true essence of Political Discussion Club as it is now. It’s a space and tool meant to break the echo chambers of our favorite partisan news stations or the slop fed to us by our tailored Instagram algorithms. Even using ‘reputable’ sources like CNN or Fox can give you the very wrong idea about the other side. As we see in the country right now, some Democrats think the Republicans are Nazi, racists, fascists, while some Republicans think the Democrats are Nazi, satanic, communists. Those in Political Discussion Club may indeed know enough to know that these characterizations aren’t necessarily true, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t still somewhat influenced by the stereotypes they are shown. The Club, therefore, allows boys to see what the other side really looks like, which is, for the most part, normal, everyday, reasonable people.
It’s difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the club this early on in its run at BH, and I’m excited as well as interested to see where it goes from here. As of now, while there is certainly passionate disagreement in the club, there is never disrespectful disagreement. It’s because of this phenomenon that I believe the club has at least achieved its goal of showing boys who their ‘opponents’ really are. They see normal people, like themselves, across the aisle—not terrible people. This, in turn, leads to respectful debate that benefits and educates all members.
