🔗 Share this article

Twelve months back, the environment was entirely distinct. Before the US presidential election, reflective citizens could admit the country's serious imperfections – its unfairness and imbalance – but they continued to see it as America. A democratic nation. A place where constitutional order carried weight. A state guided by a dignified and ethical leader, notwithstanding his elderly years and declining health.

These days, in late October 2025, countless Americans hardly identify the country we reside in. Persons believed to be illegal immigrants are collected and shoved into transport, at times denied due process. The East Wing of the “people’s house” – is undergoing demolition for an obscene dance hall. The leader is targeting his opponents or perceived antagonists and demanding legal authorities hand over an enormous amount of citizen dollars. Uniformed troops are dispatched across metropolitan centers on false pretexts. The military command, rebranded the Department of War, has – in effect – liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends what could amount to almost one trillion dollars in public funds. Colleges, law firms, news companies are yielding from leader's menaces, and billionaires are treated like aristocracy.

“The United States, just months before its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the limit into authoritarianism and extremism,” an American historian, wrote in August. “Ultimately, faster than I believed likely, it occurred in this country.”

One awakes with fresh terrors. It is hard to comprehend – and painful to realize – just how far gone we have become, and how quickly it unfolded.

Yet, it is known that the leader was duly elected. Despite his profoundly alarming previous administration and even after the alerts linked to the knowledge of Project 2025 – following the president personally stated openly he would be a dictator only on the first day – enough Americans chose him instead of the other candidate.

Frightening as the present situation is, it's more daunting to understand that we’re only several months under this leadership. What will an additional three years of this decline leave us? And if the three years becomes something even longer, because there is not anyone to stop this leader from opting that additional tenure is necessary, maybe for national security reasons?

Granted, all is not lost. We will have congressional elections the coming year which might bring a different balance of power, should Democrats recapture one or both houses of parliament. We have public servants who are striving to apply some accountability, such as Democratic congressmen that are launching an investigation concerning the try to money grab by federal prosecutors.

And a leadership election three years from now could initiate the path to healing exactly as last year’s election set us on this regrettable path.

We see millions of Americans protesting in urban areas across municipalities, as they did recently during anti-authority protests.

Robert Reich, wrote recently that “the dormant powerhouse of America is rising”, exactly as before following the Red Scare during the fifties or during anti-war demonstrations or during the Nixon controversy.

During those times, the unstable nation finally returned to balance.

Reich says he knows the signs of that awakening and observes it occurring now. For proof, he references the widespread marches, the extensive, cross-party resistance against a television host's removal and the almost universal refusal by journalists to accept the defense department’s demands they only publish what is sanctioned.

“The sleeping giant perpetually exists inactive until some venality turns extremely harmful, an specific act so disrespectful of the common good, specific cruelty so loud, that he is compelled except to rise.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I appreciate his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll be validated.

At the same time, the major inquiries persist: will the nation return to normalcy? Can it retrieve its position internationally and its adherence to constitutional order?

Or should we recognize that the 250-year-old experiment worked for a while, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My cynical mind suggests that the latter is true; that all may indeed be finished. My optimistic spirit, however, convinces me that we need to strive, by any means possible.

For me, working in journalism analysis, that means pushing media professionals to commit, more completely, to their purpose of scrutinizing authority. For others, it may be working on congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or finding ways to protect voting rights.

Less than a year ago, we were in a very different place. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The reality is, we cannot predict. Our sole course is to strive to persevere.

What’s Giving Me Hope Now

The contact I encounter in the classroom with young journalists, that are simultaneously idealistic and practical, {always