So some people in my friend group over here in Belgium decided to throw their birthday party. They are also Dutch so they invited their friends from a small Dutch village to come over. So we had is big city folks with our left wing ideas on the one hand, and the typical white Dutch friend group from a village, mostly right wing.

Eventually politics came up for some reason and they made it clear to be right wing. It appeared to stop there as nobody was interested in politics, except this one girl who ticks all the boxes of a stereotypical Republican view of the left: queer, dyed hair, etc.

Now, the discussion that followed, and the way she handled it, was simply said amazing. The patience she had, the seriousness with which she treated the guys’ concerns, the arguments she used. I was amazed, truly. And it worked. The typical things came up: migration, housing shortage, inflation, Gaza even. And she handled it so perfectly that many of them started doubting being a right winger. They’re not there yet of course but I just know they will remember this conversation for a long time.

So after that I thought: I need this person in our party. And I went over to talk to her and told her I was amazed by how she handled it. I invited her over to our action group and she is really interested.

So not only were some guys turned slightly more to the left today, we even gained a new member!

Makes me gain some hope.