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Twelve months back, the situation was entirely different. Ahead of the national election, reflective residents could recognize America's deep flaws – its inequities and inequality – however they still could identify it as the US. A democracy. A land where legal governance carried weight. A nation led by a respectable and decent official, despite his advanced age and increasing frailty.

Currently, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens scarcely know the nation we inhabit. People believed to be unauthorized foreigners are collected and shoved into vans, at times denied due process. The eastern section of the White House – is being torn down for an obscene event space. Donald Trump is persecuting his political rivals or alleged foes and insisting the justice department hand over an enormous amount of citizen dollars. Armed military personnel are deployed into American cities under fabricated reasons. The defense headquarters, rebranded the Defense Ministry, has practically liberated itself of routine media oversight during its expenditure of what could amount to close to a trillion USD of taxpayer money. Universities, legal practices, journalism organizations are buckling due to presidential intimidation, and wealthy elites are regarded as members of the royal family.

“The US, just months before its 250-year mark as the planet's foremost free society, has crossed the brink into autocracy and fascism,” Garrett Graff, stated recently. “Finally, more quickly than I thought feasible, it did happen here.”

Every morning starts to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we have become, and how quickly it occurred.

Yet, we understand that the president was legitimately chosen. Following his highly troubling previous administration and despite the alerts that came with the awareness of Project 2025 – even after the president personally stated openly he would act as an autocrat solely at the start – sufficient voters selected him rather than Kamala Harris.

While alarming as the current reality may be, it's more daunting to realize that we have only been several months under this leadership. What will three more years of this deterioration position us? And if that timeframe becomes a more extended duration, because there is nobody to limit this ruler from deciding that another term is necessary, maybe for defense purposes?

Admittedly, not everything is hopeless. There will be legislative votes in 2026 which might create a new balance of power, in case Democrats regain the Senate or House of Congress. There are elected officials who are striving to apply a degree of oversight, such as representatives that are starting a probe regarding the effort to cash appropriation from the justice department.

And a national vote three years from now could initiate the path to healing precisely as the previous vote put us on this unfortunate course.

There are millions of Americans demonstrating in the streets of their cities, similar to recent in the past days during anti-authority protests.

A former official, stated lately that “the slumbering force of America is rising”, similar to past following the Red Scare during the fifties or during the Vietnam war protests or during the Nixon controversy.

In those instances, the unstable nation eventually was righted.

He claims he understands the signs of that revival and sees it happening at present. For proof, he cites the recent massive protests, the broad, bipartisan pushback regarding 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 consistently stays dormant before some venality grows too toxic, a particular deed so offensive of societal benefit, specific cruelty so loud, that it is compelled other than to stir.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I value Reich’s experienced view. Perhaps he will turn out correct.

Meanwhile, the crucial issues remain: is the US able to regain its footing? Is it possible to restore its status internationally and its commitment to legal principles?

Or must we acknowledge that the 250-year-old experiment functioned for a period, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My negative thoughts indicates that the latter is accurate; that everything might be gone. My positive feelings, though, advises me that we need to strive, in whatever ways we can.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that involves encouraging reporters to commit, more thoroughly, to their duty of overseeing leadership. For different individuals, it may be working on political races, or coordinating protests, or finding ways to defend ballot privileges.

Under twelve months back, we were in a separate situation. In the future? Or in several years? The reality is, we are uncertain. Our sole course is to strive to persevere.

What Offers Me Encouragement Today

The interaction I encounter in the classroom with aspiring reporters, who are equally visionary and realistic, {always