I used to involved in the volunteer sector. It took me about six meetings before I could figure out whether a colleague on the same board was truly interested in what I had to say or was just playing a "nice" game while trying to inflict his version of what the world should look like.

But some of these people really don't care what the world should look like. They just like playing these games.

You might be interested in Roy. He is kind of like your Barry.

https://davevolek.medium.com/promiscuity-politics-d2fc46fb5052