The Tragic Change Just One Year Has Made in the US
One year ago, the landscape was utterly separate. Prior to the US presidential election, considerate residents could acknowledge America's deep flaws – its injustices and imbalance – yet they could still perceive it as the United States. A free society. A land where legal governance meant something. A nation headed by a honorable and decent leader, notwithstanding his advanced age and increasing frailty.
Nowadays, in late October 2025, numerous citizens hardly identify the nation we inhabit. Individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants are rounded up and pushed into vehicles, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the presidential residence – is undergoing demolition to build a lavish event space. The leader is targeting his adversaries or supposed enemies and insisting legal authorities transfer a huge total of citizen dollars. Armed military personnel are dispatched across metropolitan centers with deceptive justifications. The military command, renamed the War Department, has – in effect – rid itself of routine media oversight as it spends what could amount to close to a trillion USD in public funds. Colleges, attorney offices, media outlets are buckling from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are treated like nobility.
“The US, just months before its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has crossed the brink into authoritarianism and fascism,” a noted author, stated in August. “Ultimately, faster than I thought feasible, it did happen in America.”
One awakes amid recent atrocities. And it's challenging to understand – and agonizing to acknowledge – just how far gone we have become, and how quickly it unfolded.
Nevertheless, we understand that Trump was duly elected. Following his deeply disturbing previous administration and even after the warnings that came with the awareness of Project 2025 – following the president personally said publicly he would rule as a tyrant just on day one – a majority of citizens elected him instead of Kamala Harris.
Frightening as the present situation are, it's more frightening to realize that we’re only three-quarters of a year into this presidential term. How will an additional three years of this deterioration leave us? And if that timeframe transforms into an prolonged era, as there is nobody to stop this ruler from opting that additional tenure is essential, perhaps for security concerns?
Certainly, all is not lost. There are congressional elections the coming year that may establish an alternate political equilibrium, should Democrats regain the Senate or House of Congress. We have elected officials who are trying to impose a degree of oversight, like lawmakers that are starting a probe into the attempted fund seizure by federal prosecutors.
And a national vote in the next cycle could begin our journey to healing exactly as the previous vote put us on this regrettable path.
There exist numerous residents demonstrating in the streets of their cities, like they performed recently in the No Kings rallies.
Robert Reich, commented this week that “the dormant powerhouse of the US is stirring”, just as it did following the Red Scare in the 1950s or throughout the sixties activism or in the seventies crisis.
During those times, the listing ship finally returned to balance.
The author states he recognizes the signs of that resurgence and notices it unfolding currently. As evidence, he points to the large-scale demonstrations, the extensive, cross-party resistance regarding a broadcaster's firing and the largely united defiance by media to accept the defense department’s demands they only publish authorized information.
“The slumbering entity perpetually exists dormant until some venality becomes so noxious, an specific act so offensive toward public welfare, certain violence so noisy, that he is forced except to rise.”
It’s an optimistic take, and I appreciate the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may turn out correct.
Meanwhile, the big questions remain: will the nation ever recover? Is it possible to restore its status internationally and its devotion to the rule of law?
Or should we recognize that the national endeavor worked for a while, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?
My pessimistic brain indicates that the final scenario is accurate; that all may indeed be gone. My positive feelings, however, advises me that we have to attempt, by any means available.
In my case, as a media critic, that’s about encouraging reporters to adhere, more completely, to their mission of scrutinizing authority. For others, it could mean working on congressional campaigns, or organizing rallies, or developing approaches to defend voting rights.
Under twelve months back, we existed in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or three years from now? The reality is, we are uncertain. The only option is to attempt to not give up.
What’s Giving Me Optimism Currently
The interaction I encounter during teaching with young journalists, that are simultaneously hopeful and realistic, {always
