A Devastating Shift Just One Year Has Brought in the US
One year ago, the situation was entirely separate. Ahead of the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could admit the nation's deep flaws – its injustices and inequality – yet they still could identify it as the United States. A democracy. A land where constitutional order meant something. A country headed by a dignified and upright leader, notwithstanding his advanced age and growing weakness.
These days, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens scarcely know the nation we inhabit. Persons suspected of being undocumented migrants are rounded up and shoved into transport, sometimes blocked from fair treatment. The eastern section of the “people’s house” – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque ballroom. The president is persecuting his political rivals or supposed enemies and demanding federal prosecutors surrender a massive sum of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are dispatched into American cities with deceptive justifications. The military command, relabeled the Department of War, has practically liberated itself of routine media oversight while it uses possibly reaching nearly $1tn of taxpayer money. Institutions, legal practices, news companies are yielding due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are handled as aristocracy.
“The US, just months before its 250-year mark as the planet's foremost free society, has crossed the brink toward dictatorship and extremism,” a noted author, wrote this past summer. “Ultimately, faster than I imagined possible, it transpired in America.”
One awakes amid recent atrocities. It is difficult to grasp – and agonizing to acknowledge – how severely declined we are, and how quickly it unfolded.
However, it is known that the leader was properly voted in. Even after his highly troubling first term and despite the alerts that came with the knowledge of the conservative plan – despite the leader directly stated openly he planned to rule as a tyrant only on the first day – enough Americans elected him rather than Kamala Harris.
As terrifying as the current reality is, it's more daunting to recognize that we have only been nine months into this administration. What will an additional three years of this decline find us? And suppose the three years transforms into something even longer, since there is nobody to restrain this president from deciding that a third term is necessary, possibly for defense purposes?
Admittedly, there is still hope. We will have legislative votes in 2026 that may bring a different balance of power, should Democrats retake the Senate or House of the legislature. There exist public servants who are attempting to apply a degree of oversight, for example representatives who are starting a probe concerning the try to fund seizure from the justice department.
And a leadership election three years from now could initiate the path toward restoration precisely as last year’s election placed us on this disappointing trajectory.
There are millions of Americans protesting in urban areas throughout communities, as they did recently in the No Kings rallies.
Robert Reich, commented this week that “the slumbering force of the US is rising”, similar to past after the Communist witch-hunt era in that decade or amid the Vietnam war protests or during the seventies crisis.
In those instances, the unstable nation eventually was righted.
He claims he knows the indicators of that awakening and sees it happening at present. As support, he points to the recent massive protests, the extensive, multi-faction opposition regarding a personality's dismissal and the almost universal defiance by media to sign military mandates they solely cover approved content.
“The sleeping giant perpetually exists asleep before specific greed becomes so noxious, a particular deed so disrespectful of societal benefit, certain violence so noisy, that the giant has no choice but to awaken.”
It's a hopeful perspective, and I value his knowledgeable stance. Possibly he may prove to be right.
Meanwhile, the major inquiries remain: will the nation ever recover? Is it possible to restore its position in the world and its commitment to legal principles?
Or do we need to admit that the 250-year-old experiment worked for a while, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?
My pessimistic brain indicates that the second option is correct; that everything could be lost. My hopeful heart, however, convinces me that we need to strive, through all methods we can.
In my case, working in journalism analysis, that’s about urging journalists to adhere, more fully, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For others, it may be working on congressional campaigns, or coordinating protests, or developing approaches to defend electoral access.
Less than a year ago, we lived in a very different place. In the future? Or three years from now? The reality is, we cannot predict. Our sole course is to strive to not give up.
What Offers Me Encouragement Today
The interaction I experience with students with new media professionals, who are equally hopeful and realistic, {always
