This article appeared in The Mayo News on Tuesday, November 05, 2024.

Today marks the 60^th US Presidential election, and arguably, the one with the most ever at stake. Reflecting, perhaps, the global downturn in social and political discourse shaped by the US social media and tech giants, this squalid campaign has highlighted how far the so-called ‘land of the free’ has fallen in recent years, and how little any country, anywhere, should aspire to its values.

Those of us across the water are watching in trepidation, because western society tends to follow where the US leads, and more hangs on this utterly depressing election than ever before. Despite the calibre of the candidates, it stands as a defining moment in global political dynamics, as this so-called developed country wrestles with the decision it must make to elect a deranged, half-witted, misogynistic orange felon with plans for a dictatorship, or not. What a damning indictment of the US education system, and of humanity in general.