A Tragic Shift a Single Year Has Made in the United States
One year ago, the environment was completely separate. Before the US presidential election, thoughtful residents could admit the nation's deep flaws – its unfairness and imbalance – however they continued to perceive it as America. A free society. A land where constitutional order held significance. A nation guided by a dignified and decent public servant, notwithstanding his advanced age and increasing frailty.
Currently, as October 2025 ends, many of us hardly identify the land we inhabit. Persons believed to be illegal immigrants are detained and forced into vehicles, at times blocked from fair treatment. The left side of the presidential residence – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque event space. The president is harassing his opponents or perceived antagonists and demanding the justice department surrender an enormous amount of public funds. Soldiers with weapons are being sent into American cities under fabricated reasons. The defense headquarters, renamed the War Department, has practically liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny while it uses potentially totaling nearly $1tn in public funds. Institutions, legal practices, media outlets are yielding from leader's menaces, and billionaires are regarded as members of the royal family.
“America, shortly prior to its 250th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has crossed the limit into autocracy and fascism,” a noted author, wrote in August. “In the end, more quickly than I believed likely, it transpired in this country.”
One awakes amid recent atrocities. It is challenging to understand – and painful to realize – just how far gone our nation is, and the speed at which it has happened.
However, we understand that Trump was legitimately chosen. Despite his profoundly alarming previous administration and following the warnings that came with the knowledge of Project 2025 – even after the president personally stated openly he would be a dictator just on day one – enough Americans elected him over his Democratic opponent.
While alarming as today's circumstances may be, it's more frightening to recognize that we have only been nine months under this leadership. What will three more years of this deterioration position us? And what if that period turns into an prolonged era, as there is not anyone to restrain this ruler from deciding that another term is necessary, maybe for national security reasons?
Certainly, not everything is hopeless. There will be midterm elections in 2026 that could establish an alternate political equilibrium, should Democrats retake the Senate or House of parliament. We have government representatives who are attempting to apply some accountability, for example lawmakers currently starting a probe regarding the effort to fund seizure from the justice department.
And a leadership election in the next cycle could initiate the path to recovery exactly as the prior selection set us on this regrettable path.
We see countless citizens demonstrating in urban areas across municipalities, like they performed last weekend at democracy demonstrations.
Robert Reich, commented this week that “the dormant powerhouse of America is stirring”, similar to past post-McCarthyism in that decade or amid the sixties activism or throughout the Watergate scandal.
On those occasions, the tilting vessel ultimately corrected itself.
He claims he knows the signs of that revival and sees it happening now. As support, he references the recent massive protests, the broad, cross-party resistance to a broadcaster's firing and the almost universal defiance by media to sign military mandates they report only authorized information.
“The dormant force perpetually exists asleep till some venality turns extremely harmful, some action so contemptuous of the common good, certain violence so loud, that it has no choice except to rise.”
It's a positive outlook, and I appreciate Reich’s experienced view. Perhaps he will turn out correct.
At the same time, the big questions persist: can America return to normalcy? Can it reclaim its status internationally and its commitment to legal principles?
Or should we recognize that the national endeavor worked for a while, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?
My pessimistic brain tells me that the final scenario is accurate; that everything might be finished. My optimistic spirit, though, tells me that we have to attempt, through all methods we can.
Personally, working in journalism analysis, that involves urging journalists to commit, more thoroughly, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For some people, it might involve participating in congressional campaigns, or coordinating protests, or discovering methods to safeguard voting rights.
Under twelve months back, we lived in a separate situation. In the future? Or three years from now? The reality is, we cannot predict. The only option is to attempt to not give up.
What Provides Me Hope Now
The contact I experience with students with aspiring reporters, who are equally hopeful and grounded, {always
