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Available from Ebb Magazine

by Ebb Magazine

To Read

Wandering around on a sunny day in 2015 in England, or maybe the US, or at least a handful of European countries, you might have believed the west had won. Won what, I don’t know. Seven years of austerity had left its mark as poverty worsened in the UK, the Flint water crisis had been going on for a year, and Syriza and the IMF were doing battle over Grexit; Syria was in ruins, Libya had reintroduced slavery, and although ISIS were bombing cities we’d soon forget about them anyway. World Spirit still seemed to be on our side. America’s hegemony seemed secure and Europe was content to follow it onwards and upwards; Francis Fukuyama hadn’t yet reneged on the End of History that celebrated the triumph of the US and its hegemons over the Soviet Union; David Cameron’s promise of a referendum to silence the Eurosceptic wing of his party seemed like a minor speedbump on the far horizon; and Hilary Clinton was sure to take the White House – when, certain of her success, her supporters embraced every opportunity to have Donald Trump plastered on TVs across America to drive home her victory. Plainly speaking, liberalism was taking the final steps of its slow death.