anti capitalist musings

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Accelerationism

Trump, Land, Dugin

Trump is not Land’s monarch nor Dugin’s tsar. He is their degraded symptom: the parody of a fascist synthesis of technology and tradition, replayed in the register of meme stock and casino populism.

Bossware

Stop, Go, Smile: The New Discipline of Bossware

From PwC’s colour-coded attendance dashboard to HSBC’s biometric checkpoints and the rise of Algorithmic Affect Management, the new wave of “bossware” represents less an innovation than the latest stage in capital’s long history of making workers legible. What began with the factory bell and the punch clock now extends to our faces, moods, and keystrokes.

Corbynism

The Party of Good Intentions

Zarah Sultana’s interview in Sidecar captures the anger at Labour’s complicity in genocide and austerity, but it risks becoming another broad reformist project, haunted by the ghosts of Corbynism—vulnerable to sect capture, parliamentary illusions, and the same popular-front logic that has historically disarmed the working class.

A satirical cartoon shows a battered wooden puppet painted with the Union Jack dangling limply on strings. The marionette is worn, chipped, and cracked, symbolising a weakened Britain. Behind it loom two large shadowy figures: one in a Nazi uniform, the other resembling Vladimir Putin. Both extend their hands to manipulate the strings, casting an ominous, ghostly control over the puppet.
History

The Faragist Fantasy: Britain Should Have Backed Hitler

Nigel Farage’s TikTok wunderkind wants us to imagine a Britain that never fought Hitler, kept its colonies, and models itself on Bukele’s prison state. This is not contrarianism; it is fascist nostalgia dressed up as common sense.

Donald Trump–like figure dressed in a tuxedo clapping enthusiastically, standing beside a stern Vladimir Putin–like figure holding a chained brown bear. The background is a dark curtain, giving the scene a theatrical, vaudeville atmosphere.
Donald J Trump

The Last Superpowers

Alexander Dugin calls the Trump–Putin summit in Anchorage “splendid,” insisting the US and Russia must find an “understanding as superpowers.” The problem is that this fantasy of bipolar order flatters two declining states while obscuring the real forces shaping the 21st century.

Donald J Trump

Trump’s Civil War Rehearsal

With armed red-state troops patrolling a blue city, Trump is not protecting Washington; he is rehearsing the mechanics of civil war.

A satirical illustration of a grand Gothic-style university building with a large sign out front that reads: “CLOSED TO THE LIKES OF YOU,” highlighting the exclusion of ordinary people from higher education.
Higher Education

Universities Were Never Meant for You

Every August, the right reheats its old contempt for higher education. Their complaint is not about debt or “Mickey Mouse” degrees, it is about closing the gates of knowledge, keeping universities for the dominant class and consigning everyone else to warehouses and call centres.

Tory government continues its attack on civil rights

From silencing dissent to expanding state powers, the Conservative government is pursuing an increasingly authoritarian agenda that should deeply concern all who value human rights and democracy, argues Simon Pearson. Their inflammatory rhetoric and restrictions on protests, speech, and accountability mechanisms reflect a dangerous slide towards illiberalism.

A graphic from the Tories twitter campaign on "We Must Stop the Boats"

The Tories’ Creeping Fascism: Manipulating the Media and Demonising Migrants

This post explores the growing threat of creeping fascism in the UK political landscape, particularly within the Conservative Party. It examines recent actions by the government, including the exclusion of critical media outlets from the Home Secretary’s trip to Rwanda and the policy to deport asylum seekers, in light of the “creeping fascism” thesis. The post argues that the Tories’ use of jingoistic and anti-immigrant rhetoric is a deliberate tactic to distract from the real issues facing the UK and consolidate their power.

Tory crackdown on migrants denounced by human rights groups and charities, amid warnings of creeping fascism and global police state

Charities working with refugees and human rights experts have denounced the UK’s illegal migration bill, as concerns mount about the rise of creeping fascism and a global police state. As warnings from the writings of Neil Faulkner, Phil Hearse, and William I. Robinson become more urgent than ever, it’s clear that doing nothing is not an option. It’s time to take action and stand up for the most vulnerable members of society.