Context: "During the past two years, two online narratives have emerged within right-wing British political discourse: 'decline porn' and 'anglofuturism'. Both are in large part expressed and driven by AI images and videos, and both invoke an Orwellian patriotism. One is excessive in its pessimism, presenting a picture of British cities as hellscapes. The other is naive in its optimism, peppered with visions of flying taxis and half-jokes about putting a Wetherspoons on the moon" (Clark, B., 2026, June 10).
Consider (Simon): the fictional 'taxpayer-funded Croydon Water Park' which seeming inspired by the
[TikToker] for example
[TikTok] The phenomenon is part of what is being characterised as 'Decline Porn'
[Wikipedia] - a declinist/reactionary hauntology
https://newpractices.co.uk/hauntology/
Its so-called 'anglofuturism' serving to amplify existing anti-Black/immigrant antagonisms. While it is seemingly an organic invention - presumably, due in part to the ease of its production (through readily available generative AI tools) - the notion of such 'grassroots' expression opens it up to being redeployed/exploited to serve more strategic ends such as so-called 'boomer memes' i.e. ABC News In-depth (8 November 2019). "Could Boomer Memes Win Election Campaigns?"
https://newpractices.co.uk/persuasion/#8VlNHVOxIRw One wonders for example, about the potential of such content being weaponised as described by Mohamed Hassan in his discussion
https://newpractices.co.uk/PostTruth/#GHQAfk_5Ekk about the undue influence of tech billionaires on contemporary European politics - something, which is worth considering in context with what Max Colbert and Josiah Mortimer have revealed where seemingly,
Restore Britain Ltd have links to white supremacists and known neo-Nazi groups pledging their financial support for the political party (Colbert, M., 2026, July 22).
[see]
More: "If your feed has been flooded with content about the 'dangers' of western cities like London or San Francisco, you're not alone - it's part of a growing phenomenon known as decline porn, and it's driving narratives of political neglect and uncontrolled immigration.
On this episode, Marianna examines a niche take on this trend - AI videos which falsely portray zoos and waterparks in Croydon.
[Instagram] She tracks down the original creator of these posts, and explains why they might not be as innocent as they seem" (Spring, M., & Shea, M., 2026, February 20).
Consider (Simon): the ideas contained within George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949)
[Wikipedia] [Worldcat] seemingly allow it to be flexibly interpreted across multiple agendas. In the case of the following
Nineteen Eighty Four1984 (as well as tweets
Author George Orwell linked to its author) the corpus evokes a largely declinist/reactionary perspective - one, which is apparently failing to make sense of our contemporary world).
Bibliography: Clark, B. (2026, June 10). "Anglofuturism and ‘decline porn’: The brave new worlds of the right". Prospect Magazine.
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/conservatives/conservatives-and-the-british-right/73780/anglofuturism-and-decline-porn-the-brave-new-worlds-of-the-right
Spring, M. (2026, February 21). 'Why fake AI videos of UK urban decline are taking over social media'. BBC News.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g8r23yv71o
Spring, M., & Shea, M. (2026, February 20). 'Decline porn explained, and why Clavicular is misunderstood' [Broadcast]. In L. Kalus, S. Millward, G. Jones, J. Lang, S. Bonham, N. Jones, & R. Roberts (Eds), Top Comment. BBC Sounds.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0n20jy1
