Thomas Sebacher
Bio
A writer and editorialist from Missouri writing about history, philosophy, and politics. I provide leftist views and social commentaries upon a variety of topics.
Stories (19)
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Compromise
Compromise. We have compromised for too long, there is a single option that we acknowledge as possible and feasible, and that it must happen as decent, principled millennials. We need a revolution, whether it be political or social, to modernize, streamline, and correct economic, political, and social movements that have outlived their usefulness in their current forms. As such, we must acknowledge that compromise is not a part of revolution—if it were, we would very clearly be reasonable. Compromise is only possible among people who believe that the forces must be there. The problem of compromise is that it is just that, when one compromises, their values are compromised. In the rise of the right-wing, we see very clearly that the world is turning towards authoritarian nationalism. Any compromise with authoritarian nationalism is a deal with the devil—it will come back to destroy us. In the 1930s, compromise among the far-right (where the Republicans have been since the 2000s) and the center (where the Democrats have come to be located after decades of neoliberalism) led to the abolition of liberties and the passage of the Enabling Act after a slight national crisis. We are coming to a point where we will—mind you, will—see a genocide in fascist countries in the next decades. We are in a political climate which, if turned towards compromise, will bring both parties to the far right. While compromise, in theory, was what our country was built upon, I find this unlikely.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
Fascism
In academic and popular discussion, there is a great misunderstanding of how fascism functions and how it forms. Here I will discuss the precepts and the formation of fascist societies and governments, as this subject is largely misunderstood in popular discourse. What is fascism? Are European governments arriving closer and closer to fascism? The answer to these two questions is far less simple than they would appear.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
Why the 2018 Elections Will Change Nothing
Democrats or Republicans? The whole of American politics boils down to this question. While one can debate the relevance of politics and policy repeatedly question people about their positions on certain policies, but there will ultimately be only two people for whom they can vote. The question of party, unfortunately is as irrelevant as the third-party candidates that like to think they can win in elections for major political posts. The question becomes would you like this slightly different but altogether unchanged version of government or the other part of this binary system of government?
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
Remembering Cable Street
In the current political climate, with the rise of the authoritarian right-wing in its current visible form, we should do well to remember the resistance to the previous forms of right-wing authoritarianism and the birth of anti-fascist movements out of the Second World War and beforehand. Perhaps the greatest of popular mobilizations against fascism was the Battle of Cable Street. It originated out of a march of the British Union of Fascists, a march which would cut through the heart of a Jewish neighborhood, and an armed clash with the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and a planned effort by 86 organizations to stop the march of the Fascist Union. The first attempts to end the march were peaceful, a petition signed by 100,000 people, and other such attempts. When this did not end the march, a member of the CPGB would organize a blockade of the fascist march through popular organization.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
The Left
In history, there are many who claim that the left is immoral, that its precepts are unlikely, that it is itself as bad as the right. However, these analyses are flawed, quite fatally, according to the words of Che Guevara—"The true revolutionary is motivated by deep feelings of love," a compassion that goes deeper than the surface of liberation and goes into the details of liberation. Guevara was not wrong. The left has always had a strong emotional appeal—children starving tends to wake one up from the illusion of capitalist paradise rather quickly and angers one to the point of radical actions. The Right, on the other hand, is motivated by hatred and greed. As I see black children killed, I am disgusted by the police and the criminal justice system that has failed them. But the right does nothing, sees nothing, and if it addresses these it chooses the side of the police, not the side of those who have less, who are persecuted, but the side of the privileged.
By Thomas Sebacher8 years ago in The Swamp
