Political dialogue in this polarized age can feel futile. Republicans and Democrats share less common ground now on key issues than they have in 20 years, according to surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center. At the same time, people’s beliefs have become more uniform; Americans are more likely to identify will all of the positions their party holds, rather than pick and choose. Close family members report drifting apart and receding into their respective media bubbles.
Walker, 53, who has run the barbershop out of his home for about 14 years, makes a point of pulling people out of their online echo chambers to talk about difficult subjects. Here, online memes deserve to be discussed in real life, and incendiary topics, unpacked.
On a given day, the audience may include anyone from a professor at Penn State Mont Alto to a financial advisor from Merrill Lynch to Rich Carbaugh, a local electrician.
Carbaugh, a camo hat-wearing Republican, arrived for his haircut at 11 a.m.
At 1:25 p.m., he was still standing in the shop, drawn into conversation with another regular, Bill Harris.
Harris, who’s bald, is a fixture here even though he doesn’t need a trim anymore, preferring instead to sit back and stir up conversation.
“When somebody goes Christian, I go Muslim automatically,” Harris said. “When there’s a lot of Muslims in here, I go Christian.”
Across the room, Carbaugh shook his head and laughed. He had been ready to leave, but said he and Bill had been getting into it.
“I’m conservative, and he’s not,” Carbaugh said. “But we get into some good conversations. We agree to disagree on most things and still walk out of here as friends.”
