Bearing Witness to Collapse
In Notes to John, Joan Didion records the slow failure of the defences she spent a lifetime building — and in doing so, leaves behind a final, unflinching act of courage
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In Notes to John, Joan Didion records the slow failure of the defences she spent a lifetime building — and in doing so, leaves behind a final, unflinching act of courage
Britain is broken, but not in the way Nigel Farage imagines. In his vision, mass deportations and the dismantling of human rights law will somehow reverse decades of decline
In the society of the spectacle, even death must pose for the camera, and what is buried is not only the body but the last fragile hope that anything might remain untouched by the churn of images
Nigel Farage’s rise is not simply the product of voter disillusionment but the result of a liberal media too fearful, too compromised, and too complicit to confront the reactionary politics they helped create.
The United States is no longer sliding toward fascism; it is actively constructing it, one arrested judge, one silenced journalist, and one gutted civil rights protection at a time
Lain’s forensic account of lethal injection reveals not a broken system, but a killing state operating exactly as intended. Where cruelty is bureaucratised, incompetence is institutionalised, and the violence of capital punishment is hidden beneath the theatre of medical procedure.
The United States is no longer sliding toward fascism; it is actively constructing it, one arrested judge, one silenced journalist, and one gutted civil rights protection at a time
Power posed, punishment filtered, the spectacle made beautiful.
Trump’s congressional address wasn’t just another rambling performance. It was a blueprint for a more chaotic, authoritarian world. His wavering on Ukraine signalled open season for Putin, while his economic nationalism masked a deeper agenda: consolidating power by pitting workers against each other while serving the same ruling class that fuels crisis and war. This isn’t just about Trump. It’s about a capitalist system in decay, turning to reaction and repression to sustain itself. The question isn’t whether we can stop him, it’s whether we can break the cycle before it’s too late.
Trump’s tariff war is not about economic nationalism, it’s a desperate attempt to prop up a failing system through class warfare, digital authoritarianism, and mass repression. As capitalism stumbles deeper into crisis, the dominant class turns to protectionism, billionaire governance, and algorithmic control to maintain its grip, ensuring that workers, migrants, and the global precariat bear the cost.
The transition is complete. The bureaucracy is being purged, executive orders rain down like decrees from a throne, and opposition is branded treasonous. The state is no longer a neutral machine for capitalist management—it is becoming an instrument of direct class war. Trump’s second term is not simply a rerun of his first; it is something darker, more disciplined, more openly repressive. The threats against political enemies are no longer bluster—they are policy. The FBI and CIA are being reshaped in his image, turned from institutions of surveillance into enforcers of ideological loyalty. Official diktats appear not just in government memos but on X, where Musk, the regime’s favoured oligarch, polls his Twitler Youth on whom to exile next. The question is no longer whether American democracy is eroding but whether we are watching its final transformation into something else entirely. Neoliberalism is collapsing, and in its ruins, a new order is emerging. The only question is: what kind?