Poetry Archives - anti capitalist musings

A large black-and-white graffiti mural of a young Mike Tyson is painted on the side of a red brick building in New York. The mural shows Tyson before his face tattoo era, capturing his youthful intensity with a stern expression and strong jawline. His name, “MIKE TYSON,” appears in bold white capital letters beside the portrait. The building features classic urban architecture with fire escapes, giving the scene a gritty 1980s New York atmosphere. A streetlamp stands in the foreground, adding to the mural’s dramatic presence.

Biography

The Beast in the Bleachers

Mike Tyson was never just a boxer—he was a system made flesh. Mark Kriegel’s Baddest Man understands this: it’s not a redemption tale but an anatomy of spectacle, where a traumatised boy from Brownsville is forged into a global icon of violence, repackaged as entertainment, and finally rebranded for profit

A stylised graphic portrait of an older man with long hair and a thick beard, rendered in a bold red, navy, and beige palette reminiscent of propaganda posters. His intense gaze and solemn expression evoke a Rasputin-like presence. The background features undulating red and navy stripes that radiate outward, enhancing the image’s hypnotic and authoritative feel.

Alexander Dugin

The New Fascist International: Dugin, Trumpism and the War on Democracy

Alexander Dugin’s Trump Revolution is less a political treatise than a fascist gospel for the post-liberal order—mythic, dangerous, and perfectly in tune with the mood of the new authoritarian right.

Iran

The MAGA Schism: Iran, War, and the Incoherence of America First

As Trump edges closer to war with Iran, the MAGA movement confronts its deepest contradiction: you can’t bomb your way to peace and still call it America First.

The image is divided into three main sections: on the left, dark green conifer trees form a dense forest; on the right, large, jagged orange and yellow flames dominate the frame, licking upwards; above, thick grey smoke billows into a pale blue sky with sharp, graphic cloud shapes. The colours are bold and flat, with a textured, screen-printed effect, evoking urgency and destruction.

Climate Change

The Far Right Would Rather Burn the World Than Change It

The far right has no intention of meeting the climate crisis—they’re not even pretending anymore. As scientists warn we have just two years left to stay within the carbon budget for 1.5C, reactionary forces double down on fossil fuels, culture war, and delay. Their politics is not about preventing collapse, but exploiting it. Climate denial has become climate opportunism—and the cost will be counted in lives.

A retro, screen-printed style illustration of a large construction site at twilight. Multiple cranes dominate the scene, with one lifting a massive circular structure. In the foreground, a solitary figure in a yellow hi-vis jacket stands facing the site. The sky is a textured teal, and the buildings and machinery are rendered in bold shades of orange and black.

Britain

Half Finshed Futures

Britain doesn’t have a problem with ambition—it has a problem with delivery, honesty, and class. HS2 is just the latest national fiasco sold as progress, then gutted behind the scenes to serve consultants, cronies and headlines.

A grainy, vintage-style photograph shows a massive fire engulfing a facility at night on the outskirts of a city. Thick black smoke billows into the sky, illuminated by the intense orange and yellow flames below. In the background, the cityscape glows with scattered lights, contrasting with the dark sky and the ominous blaze in the foreground. Several utility poles line the edge of the compound, silhouetted against the fire.

Donald J Trump

Trump, Tehran, and the Spectacle of Pressure

As Trump ramps up pressure on Iran—economically, militarily, and rhetorically—he discards intelligence briefings in favour of bombast, demands a surrender he can’t define, and courts catastrophe under the banner of strategic clarity. But Iran is not Iraq, and the fantasy of collapse may end in flames, not order.

A distorted television broadcast screenshot from the 1980s showing Margaret Thatcher speaking. The image is heavily glitched with horizontal multicoloured static lines disrupting her face and suit. She wears a dark blazer, a pearl necklace, and has her characteristic hairstyle. The glitch effect creates a retro, unsettling atmosphere.

Adam Curtis

Shifty and the Curtis Method in Decline

Adam Curtis’s latest series attempts to diagnose the collapse of public trust in Britain—but without his voice, a clear argument, or fresh material, Shifty drifts through the ruins of the neoliberal age, recycling fragments and offering atmosphere where once there was clarity.

A high-contrast, screenprint-style illustration. The image shows a war-damaged urban building reduced to rubble, with silhouetted figures—emergency responders or civilians—gathered in the foreground. A leafless tree stretches across the right side, and streaks of red mark hazard lines or tape. The colour palette is stark black, beige, and deep red, evoking destruction, resistance, and political urgency.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

What Comes After War for Iran?

Regime Collapse, Revolution—or Something Worse?

Dissonant Symphony

As we journey through the shadows of a world ensnared by the grasp of capitalism, we discover the indomitable spirit of those who yearn for change.