Skip to main content
The US election: The times they aren't a-changing
Right-wing populism is not fading away on account of exposure through holding office. Nor are the capsized political systems of the neoliberal era automatically righting themselves, writes KEVIN OVENDEN
US flag in sunlight

IT was billed as the election that would triumphantly restore the liberal-capitalist centre: back to 2008, before the financial crash and succeeding crises shattered political systems globally. 

Even if the late counts narrowly deliver more states than Joe Biden needs to secure the 270 votes in the Electoral College, an anti-democratic product of the slave-owning era, the US presidential election has certainly not done that. 

Against what had been growing chatter this autumn that we were on the cusp of a new epoch as this decade ends, events in the US dramatically confirm continuing political and social polarisation. 

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
Kim Leadbeater
Features / 21 March 2025
21 March 2025
The shameful passage of the assisted dying Bill where safeguards have been all but jettisoned is symptomatic of a hyper-liberalised society where the cult of individualism reigns supreme, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to soldiers at
Features / 21 February 2025
21 February 2025
The proxy war in Ukraine is heading to a denouement with the US and Russia dividing the spoils while the European powers stand bewildered by events they have been wilfully blind to, says KEVIN OVENDEN
MB
Features / 6 December 2024
6 December 2024
As heavy industry flees and public-sector strikes paralyse the nation, the French leader’s increasingly desperate attempts to rule without a majority reveal the deep crisis at the heart of European liberal democracy, writes KEVIN OVENDEN
Golden Dawn
Features / 5 August 2024
5 August 2024
KEVIN OVENDEN draws on the Greek anti-fascist movement’s resounding successes against the neonazi Golden Dawn to outline a united front strategy to challenge state racism and surging mob violence