Frank M. Anderson's Writing

Tag: politics

  • Seen / Unseen Greenville: GVL2040 and the Gap Between Plan and Reality

    Seen / Unseen Greenville: GVL2040 and the Gap Between Plan and Reality

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    Most people in Greenville haven’t read GVL2040. That’s not really a knock on anyone. It’s a long-term planning document, not exactly light reading. But it is one of the most important things shaping what Greenville becomes over the next 15–20 years, whether people realize it or not. GVL2040 is the City of Greenville’s comprehensive plan…

  • Fear of a Post-Knox White Greenville

    Fear of a Post-Knox White Greenville

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    It is an odd thing to worry about a city after the departure of a leader who has been in office so long that many residents barely remember life before him. But that is where Greenville may now find itself. For nearly three decades, Knox White has been one of the defining faces of modern…

  • The Whitening of Greenville: Gentrification and Pushed-Out People

    The Whitening of Greenville: Gentrification and Pushed-Out People

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    Greenville’s Favorite Story About Itself Greenville loves the story it tells about itself. It is a story of redemption, polish, and smart civic leadership. A former mill town that once struggled with decline reinvented itself into one of the most celebrated small cities in America. Downtown was revived. Main Street became a destination. Falls Park…

  • The Empathy War 2: Charlie Kirk and the Cost of Easy Stories

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    This article is a follow up and expansion of this older article – https://fulcrumandaxis.com/2025/05/22/the-empathy-war-why-stories-are-the-battlegroundby-frank-m-anderson/ I don’t know exactly when empathy became controversial—but I know I felt it. First as a writer. Then as a teacher. And now as a father watching entire shelves of books disappear from schools. Today, that feeling got louder. On September…

  • The Real Putin and Trump: Strength or Spectacle?

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    Supporters of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump praise them for toughness, economic savvy, authenticity, and national pride. But those supposed virtues collapse under scrutiny. Both men are masters of spectacle, using image to mask behavior that weakens the very societies they claim to protect. Putin: The Mob Boss in a Suit Putin’s aura of strength…

  • Radical Honesty – On Politics and Fascism

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    I’ve been thinking a lot about honesty lately — not the polite, softened kind, but the real kind. The kind that risks making people uncomfortable. The kind that might cost you friends, but leaves you knowing you said what you actually meant. That’s the thread I’ve been pulling with these Radical Honesty pieces. It’s part…

  • On Politics

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    Why I Still Believe in Ideas I’m not a political scientist. I’m not a pundit or a strategist. I’m a citizen—a father, a writer, a teacher—trying to make sense of the world I’ve inherited and the world I’m handing to the next generation. And here’s what I see: We are drowning in noise and starving…

  • Waiting Until It’s Safe: How Local Media Lost Its Nerve

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    I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of journalism—national and local. And the more I look at it, the more I see the same problem everywhere: no one wants to be first unless it’s guaranteed to be a win. I recently spoke to a local reporter at the Post and Courier about covering my…

  • What If We Actually Built the World We Pretend We Live In?

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    By Frank M. Anderson Reimagining the Civic Contract in an Age of Collapse Something remarkable is happening when you look at the voices breaking through the noise of modern politics. Dean Withers, a Gen Z debate phenom, and Pete Buttigieg, a calm, incisive explainer of public service, couldn’t be more different in style—but they both…

  • The Empathy War: Why Stories Are the Battleground

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    I don’t know exactly when empathy became controversial—but I know I felt it. First as a writer. Then as a teacher. And now as a father watching entire shelves of books disappear from schools. It’s strange to have grown up with stories that taught me to love the outsider—mutants, rebels, misfits, prophets—and now see those…

  • The Real Cost of “Free”: How to Fix Facebook Without Burning It Down

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    By Frank M. Anderson Let’s start with the obvious:Facebook is broken. Not technically—functionally. Morally. Spiritually.It’s a platform that once promised connection but now delivers manipulation, outrage, and infinite scrolls through curated distraction. And yet, I don’t think it’s beyond saving. In fact, I still believe in Facebook.At its best, it works. I check in on…

  • What Are We Trying to Conserve?

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    A personal reckoning with the myths, machinery, and morality of modern conservatism I’m not a political scientist. I’m not a historian.I’m not trying to go viral, win an argument, or “own” anybody. I’m just someone who’s been thinking—really thinking—about how we got here. How certain ideas took hold.How they shaped the world around us.And why…