Economics Archives - anti capitalist musings

A square-cropped image featuring the bold black text "THE SAMSON OPTION" in all capital letters on a cream background. The second "O" in "OPTION" is stylised with the upper half containing the Israeli flag and the lower half the American flag, symbolising the book’s geopolitical focus

Iran

The Bomb in the Basement, the Bomb in the Mountains: Israel, Iran, and the Nuclear Hypocrisy of the West

The next state to cross the nuclear threshold won’t be doing anything new. It’ll be following the path Israel already took—building the bomb in secret, shielded by silence and strategic utility. The real precedent was set decades ago in the Negev. That’s the hypocrisy at the heart of the so-called international order: one bomb is a threat to civilisation, the other a pillar of it. This isn’t about non-proliferation. It’s about who gets to own the apocalypse.

Giorgia Meloni, dressed in a white suit, leans forward intently as she listens to Donald Trump, who is seated opposite her in a navy blue suit and red tie, gesturing mid-sentence. The two sit in ornate yellow chairs in front of a fireplace adorned with elaborate gold decorations, suggesting a formal diplomatic setting.

Book Review

I Am Giorgia, and You Are Not

What looks like autobiography is really a sermon: suffer, obey, reproduce, and vote accordingly.

A stylised, screen-printed poster shows the Spanish PM in a suit walking past large NATO emblems on bold, flat panels. The image is rendered in a 1968 protest aesthetic with a grainy texture and a limited palette of red, navy blue, and beige. The composition evokes vintage political posters, with stark contrast and minimal detail emphasising the symbolism of militarism and conformity.

Donald J Trump

Only Spain Has Got It Right

At The Hague summit, NATO committed to spending 5% of GDP on defence and security by 2035—a figure with no strategic rationale and every sign of submission to Donald Trump. Only Spain said no. Pedro Sánchez broke ranks, arguing that gutting public services to fund rearmament was neither economically justifiable nor politically defensible. In doing so, he exposed what the rest of Europe won’t admit: this isn’t about defence. It’s about deference. And someone had to refuse.

A crowd of protesters gathers in front of a historic Venetian building with arched stone columns, holding a large hand-painted banner that reads “NO SPACE FOR BEZOS!” accompanied by a cartoon rocket. The mood is lively and defiant, with people standing shoulder to shoulder, some filming or raising their fists.

Amazon

The Billionaire’s Carnival

To Jeff Bezos, Venice is just a stage set: a curated backdrop for the brand—and a wedding venue on the side.

A stencil-style, red monochromatic illustration split vertically into two scenes. On the left, three masked or hooded figures—one wearing a tactical vest—stand beside a Ford SUV. On the right, outside a Home Depot store, two shoppers push a trolley while another stands nearby. The entire image is rendered in a bold red on a beige background

ICE

Rendition Comes Home

Under Trump and Stephen Miller, extraordinary rendition has been refashioned for domestic use—not to fight terrorism, but to disappear the vulnerable. There are no warrants. No charges. No destinations. Just men in unmarked vans, masked and armed, taking people who often never come back. This isn’t immigration enforcement. It’s the logic of the War on Terror—secret transfers, indefinite detention, legal disappearance—turned inward. The spectacle is the point. The fear is the policy.

A menacing, cartoonish figure in a turban and beard glares forward, baring claw-like hands. The background features silhouetted Islamic architecture—minarets and domes—framing the central figure. The design mimics Cold War–era Western fear-mongering visuals.

From Reds to Revolutionary Guards: The New Bogeyman of Empire

By the time Hollywood started scripting Iran as its newest bogeyman, the Cold War playbook had already been written. The turbans replaced fur hats, the chants swapped in for Russian-accented threats, but the role remained the same: the unknowable enemy, forever at the gates. From Argo to Homeland, Iran is less a country than a plot device—violent, duplicitous, irredeemably foreign. Yet in the shadow of this narrative, exiled Iranian filmmakers are doing something far more dangerous than propaganda: they’re telling the truth.

A grainy, high-contrast protest-style image of a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber in flight, shown from below against a vivid red and orange textured background. The aircraft appears as a dark silhouette with glowing landing lights, evoking a menacing presence. The overall aesthetic mimics 1968-era anti-war graphics, with bold colours and distressed textures conveying urgency and opposition.

Donald J Trump

The Age of Unreason: Iran, Empire and the Violence of the West

Trump’s bunker busters, Netanyahu’s theological realism, and Starmer’s threat to criminalise Palestine Action reveal a world in which violence is moralised, empire is rationalised, and dissent is once again labelled terrorism.

graphic shows a large crowd gathered before a mountainous concert stage rendered in bold, psychedelic colours. The mountains are depicted in textured reds and oranges, with deep purple shadows. The stage features concentric arches in red and maroon, with the phrase “SEE YA ON THE OTHER SIDE” glowing in retro block lettering at its centre. The silhouetted crowd in the foreground includes a single raised fist, evoking a mood of dissent and collective energy.

Documentary

The Crowd, the Brand, and the Dead: Astroworld and the Economics of Chaos

Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert should never have turned deadly—but as Netflix’s Trainwreck series shows, the machinery of profit, fandom and spectacle made it almost inevitable. When capital kills, no one at corporate is ever to blame.

Trump’s Tariff Fantasy

The Trump administration’s latest tariff proposal assumes that other countries will quietly absorb the cost of import duties. But tariffs don’t work like that. They never have.

Review of ‘Reclaiming the Future: A Beginner’s Guide to Planning the Economy’ by Simon Hannah

Simon Hannah’s Reclaiming the Future: A Beginner’s Guide to Planning the Economy is a searing indictment of capitalism’s failures and a powerful call for a democratically planned socialist future. In an era of crisis, this book is essential reading for anyone who refuses to accept that the chaos of the market is the best we can hope for. As capitalist crisis deepens, bringing with it ecological catastrophe, resurgent reactionary politics, and growing inequality, Simon lays out an uncompromising case for a planned economy as the only viable alternative. This is not a work of dry economism or abstract theory; it is a call to arms, a rallying cry against capitalist realism and its false sense of inevitability.

Painting that represents a financial crash.

Dismantling Inequality: Reimagining Capitalism and the Financial System

The ongoing banking crisis, which is best exemplified by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, reveals the fundamental flaws in the capitalist system and its inherently unequal power dynamics. As we face the challenges of financial instability, it’s time to critically reassess our economic paradigms and explore transformative approaches that prioritise equity and sustainability for all.

anti capitalist musings