A Devastating Change Only 12 Months Has Brought in the United States
Twelve months back, the situation was completely distinct. Prior to the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could recognize the nation's serious imperfections – its unfairness and disparity – yet they could still identify it as America. A free society. A country where constitutional order carried weight. A nation led by a honorable and decent public servant, notwithstanding his advanced age and growing weakness.
These days, as October 2025 ends, many of us scarcely know the land we live in. Individuals believed to be undocumented migrants are collected and pushed into vehicles, occasionally denied due process. The left side of the White House – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque dance hall. The president is harassing his opponents or supposed enemies and insisting federal prosecutors hand over a huge total of public funds. Uniformed troops are being sent into American cities with deceptive justifications. The Pentagon, relabeled the War Department, has – in effect – freed itself of routine media oversight during its expenditure of potentially totaling almost one trillion dollars in public funds. Universities, legal practices, news companies are submitting under the president’s threats, and rich magnates are handled as aristocracy.
“The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the planet's foremost free society, has tipped over the limit into autocracy and extremism,” Garrett Graff, stated this past summer. “In the end, swifter than I believed likely, it transpired here.”
Each day begins amid recent atrocities. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we are, and how quickly it unfolded.
Yet, it is known that Trump was legitimately chosen. Despite his deeply disturbing first term and despite the cautions associated with the awareness of Project 2025 – despite the president personally stated openly he intended to rule as a tyrant just on day one – enough Americans chose him rather than his Democratic opponent.
Frightening as the present situation may be, it's more daunting to understand that we are just three-quarters of a year under this leadership. Where will another 36 months of this deterioration find us? And what if that period transforms into a more extended duration, since there is no one to stop this ruler from deciding that another term is necessary, maybe for security concerns?
Admittedly, not everything is hopeless. There will be midterm elections next year which might bring a different balance of power, in case Democrats regain either chamber of Congress. There are elected officials who are striving to impose certain responsibility, such as Democratic congressmen who are starting a probe into the attempted cash appropriation from legal authorities.
And a national vote in the next cycle could start us down the road toward restoration just as last year’s election placed us on this unfortunate course.
There exist numerous residents marching in the streets throughout communities, similar to recent last weekend at democracy demonstrations.
A former official, wrote recently that “the great sleeping giant of America is rising”, just as it did following the Red Scare during the fifties or throughout the sixties activism or throughout the seventies crisis.
During those times, the tilting vessel ultimately corrected itself.
Reich says he recognizes the signs of that awakening and notices it unfolding at present. As evidence, he references the widespread marches, the widespread, bipartisan pushback to a personality's dismissal and the largely united defiance by media to agree to government requirements they only publish what is sanctioned.
“The slumbering entity always remains asleep until some venality grows too toxic, a particular deed so offensive toward public welfare, specific cruelty so noisy, that the giant is compelled except to rise.”
It’s an optimistic take, and I respect the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may be validated.
At the same time, the major inquiries endure: is the US able to return to normalcy? Is it possible to restore its position globally and its devotion to legal principles?
Or should we recognize that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?
My pessimistic brain tells me that the final scenario is true; that everything might be finished. My optimistic spirit, however, tells me that we need to strive, in whatever ways we can.
In my case, as an observer of the press, that involves pushing media professionals to adhere, more fully, to their purpose of scrutinizing authority. For others, it might involve engaging with political races, or planning demonstrations, or developing approaches to protect electoral access.
Less than a year ago, we lived in a separate situation. A year from now? Or after another term? The truth is, we are uncertain. All we can do is to strive to persevere.
What Provides Me Encouragement Today
The interaction I experience with students with young journalists, that are simultaneously idealistic and practical, {always
