Benjamin Clark, Prospect Magazine (13 July 2026). "Is the UK really in decline?"
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zbH-AWcr7FI
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). Simon: the fictional 'taxpayer-funded Croydon Water Park' which seeming inspired by the https://www.tiktok.com/@radialb2 for example https://www.tiktok.com/discover/radialb The phenomenon is part of what is being characterised as 'Decline Porn' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_porn - 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, http://trigg.gr/tag/OrgClassifPPUKRestoreBritainLtd have links to white supremacists and known neo-Nazi groups pledging their financial support for the political party (Colbert, M., 2026, July 22). https://newpractices.co.uk/AIslop/#2bIq2K52zLI:POI2 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. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU_jMzxlFS8/ 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). Simon: the ideas contained within George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four https://search.worldcat.org/title/Nineteen-eighty-four-:-a-novel/oclc/2320900 seemingly allow it to be flexibly interpreted across multiple agendas. In the case of the following http://trigg.gr/tag/1949_NineteenEightyFour1984 (as well as tweets http://trigg.gr/tag/IRLAuthorGeorgeOrwell 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
