A Devastating Shift Just One Year Has Made in the US
Twelve months back, the landscape was entirely distinct. Before the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could recognize the country's deep flaws – its inequities and imbalance – however they still could see it as America. A free society. A land where legal governance carried weight. A country guided by a honorable and upright leader, despite his advanced age and growing weakness.
Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, countless Americans hardly identify the country we reside in. Persons believed to be unauthorized foreigners are detained and forced into transport, sometimes denied due process. The left side of the White House – is being destroyed for an obscene ballroom. Donald Trump is harassing his adversaries or alleged foes and insisting legal authorities hand over a massive sum of taxpayer money. Uniformed troops are being sent to US urban areas under fabricated reasons. The military command, rebranded the Defense Ministry, has effectively liberated itself of routine media oversight during its expenditure of possibly reaching nearly $1tn in public funds. Universities, legal practices, news companies are yielding from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are treated like nobility.
“The United States, just months before its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has crossed the brink into autocracy and totalitarianism,” an American historian, wrote recently. “In the end, faster than I thought feasible, it occurred in this country.”
One awakes amid recent atrocities. It is hard to comprehend – and agonizing to acknowledge – how severely declined we have become, and how quickly it unfolded.
However, it is known that Trump was legitimately chosen. Despite his deeply disturbing previous administration and despite the alerts that came with the awareness of the rightwing blueprint – following the president personally declared plainly he would be a dictator solely at the start – enough Americans chose him over Kamala Harris.
While alarming as the current reality are, it’s even scarier to understand that we have only been three-quarters of a year into this administration. Where will another 36 months of this deterioration find us? And what if the three years turns into a more extended duration, because there is no one to restrain this president from deciding that another term is essential, perhaps for national security reasons?
Certainly, there is still hope. There will be midterm elections the coming year that may establish an alternate political equilibrium, in case Democrats recapture one or both houses of the legislature. There are government representatives who are striving to impose some accountability, such as Democratic congressmen currently starting a probe concerning the try to fund seizure from the justice department.
And a national vote in 2028 could initiate our journey to healing just as the previous vote placed us on this regrettable path.
There exist millions of Americans demonstrating in the streets throughout communities, similar to recent in the past days in the No Kings rallies.
Robert Reich, wrote recently that “the slumbering force of America is awakening”, similar to past following the Red Scare in the 1950s or amid anti-war demonstrations or during the seventies crisis.
In those instances, the unstable nation finally returned to balance.
The author states he understands the signs of that resurgence and notices it unfolding at present. For proof, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the broad, multi-faction opposition to a television host's removal and the near-unanimous defiance by media to accept military mandates they solely cover what is sanctioned.
“The sleeping giant perpetually exists inactive before some venality becomes so noxious, an specific act so disrespectful of the common good, specific cruelty so disruptive, that the giant is compelled other than to stir.”
It's a hopeful perspective, and I value his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will turn out correct.
At the same time, the big questions remain: is the US able to ever recover? Can it reclaim its standing globally and its commitment to the rule of law?
Or do we need to admit that the 250-year-old experiment functioned for a period, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?
My cynical mind indicates that the second option is accurate; that all may indeed be gone. My positive feelings, though, tells me that we have to attempt, through all methods we can.
Personally, working in journalism analysis, that involves pushing media professionals to live up, more completely, to their duty of overseeing leadership. For some people, it could mean working on congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to defend voting rights.
Under twelve months back, we existed in a very different place. A year from now? Or in several years? The truth is, we don’t know. All we can do is to attempt to persevere.
What Offers Me Hope Now
The interaction I encounter during teaching with new media professionals, that are simultaneously visionary and grounded, {always
