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One year ago, the landscape was completely distinct. Prior to the American presidential vote, thoughtful Americans could acknowledge the nation's deep flaws – its inequities and disparity – yet they still could perceive it as the United States. A free society. A land where legal governance carried weight. A nation led by a respectable and ethical leader, despite his advanced age and declining health.

Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens hardly identify the nation we live in. Persons suspected of being illegal immigrants are detained and shoved into vans, at times denied due process. The left side of the presidential residence – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque dance hall. The leader is persecuting his adversaries or alleged foes and requesting the justice department surrender a massive sum of public funds. Armed military personnel are being sent across metropolitan centers under fabricated reasons. The Pentagon, rebranded the Department of War, has effectively liberated itself of routine media oversight while it uses potentially totaling almost one trillion dollars of taxpayer money. Colleges, law firms, news companies are yielding from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are regarded as aristocracy.

“The US, only a few months ahead of its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has fallen over the brink into authoritarianism and totalitarianism,” an American historian, stated this past summer. “In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it transpired here.”

One awakes amid recent atrocities. It is challenging to understand – and painful to realize – how severely declined we are, and how quickly it has happened.

However, we understand that the president was legitimately chosen. Following his profoundly alarming previous administration and following the alerts linked to the knowledge of Project 2025 – even after Trump himself declared plainly he intended to act as an autocrat solely at the start – sufficient voters elected him instead of Kamala Harris.

Frightening as today's circumstances is, it's more frightening to recognize that we have only been three-quarters of a year into this presidential term. How will an additional three years of this downfall position us? And suppose the three years becomes a more extended duration, as there is not anyone to limit this ruler from determining that a third term is essential, maybe for national security reasons?

Granted, there is still hope. There are congressional elections in 2026 that may establish an alternate balance of power, in case Democrats recapture either chamber of Congress. There are government representatives who are attempting to impose a degree of oversight, such as Democratic congressmen that are starting a probe concerning the try to cash appropriation from legal authorities.

And a national vote in 2028 could initiate the path to recovery just as the prior selection set us on this unfortunate course.

We see numerous residents protesting in public spaces of their cities, like they performed in the past days during anti-authority protests.

A former official, stated lately that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is stirring”, similar to past post-McCarthyism during the fifties or amid anti-war demonstrations or in the seventies crisis.

In those instances, the listing ship ultimately corrected itself.

He claims he knows the signs of that resurgence and observes it occurring currently. As evidence, he points to the widespread marches, the widespread, cross-party resistance to a television host's removal and the almost universal refusal by journalists to sign government requirements they report only approved content.

“The slumbering entity perpetually exists asleep till some venality grows too toxic, some action so contemptuous toward public welfare, certain violence so noisy, that he has no choice except to rise.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I appreciate Reich’s experienced view. Maybe he’ll be validated.

Meanwhile, the crucial issues remain: is the US able to ever recover? Can it retrieve its standing globally and its adherence to legal principles?

Or do we need to admit that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My cynical mind indicates that the second option is correct; that all may indeed be lost. My hopeful heart, though, convinces me that we have to attempt, in whatever ways possible.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that’s about pushing media professionals to live up, more completely, to their duty of overseeing leadership. For some people, it could mean engaging with congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to protect electoral access.

Under twelve months back, we were in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or after another term? The fact is, we cannot predict. All we can do is to attempt to persevere.

What Offers Me Hope Now

The interaction I experience in the classroom with new media professionals, that are simultaneously idealistic and realistic, {always