A Devastating Change a Single Year Has Caused in the US
One year ago, the environment was completely separate. Prior to the national election, considerate citizens could admit America's serious imperfections – its injustices and inequality – however they continued to perceive it as America. A democracy. A place where the rule of law carried weight. A state headed by a honorable and ethical official, despite his elderly years and growing weakness.
These days, in late October 2025, countless Americans scarcely know the nation we live in. Individuals believed to be undocumented migrants are detained and forced into vans, at times refused legal rights. The left side of the White House – is being torn down for a grotesque dance hall. Donald Trump is harassing his opponents or perceived antagonists and insisting legal authorities hand over a huge total of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are deployed into American cities with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, renamed the War Department, has practically liberated itself of regular press examination as it spends potentially totaling close to a trillion USD in public funds. Institutions, attorney offices, media outlets are buckling under the president’s threats, and billionaires are handled as aristocracy.
“The US, only a few months ahead of its 250-year mark as the planet's foremost free society, has tipped over the brink into autocracy and extremism,” an American historian, commented recently. “Ultimately, more quickly than I believed likely, it occurred here.”
Every morning starts amid recent atrocities. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we are, and how quickly it occurred.
Yet, it is known that the leader was properly voted in. Despite his deeply disturbing initial presidency and despite the alerts linked to the knowledge of the rightwing blueprint – despite the leader directly said publicly he planned to rule as a tyrant solely at the start – a majority of citizens elected him rather than Kamala Harris.
Frightening as the present situation are, it's more daunting to understand that we have only been several months under this leadership. Where will another 36 months of this decline find us? And what if that period turns into a more extended duration, because there is no one to stop this president from determining that additional tenure is necessary, maybe for national security reasons?
Admittedly, all is not lost. There will be congressional elections in 2026 that could bring a different political equilibrium, should Democrats recapture the Senate or House of the legislature. There exist government representatives who are trying to apply certain responsibility, such as lawmakers that are starting a probe regarding the effort to money grab from legal authorities.
And a national vote in 2028 could start our journey toward restoration precisely as last year’s election set us on this disappointing trajectory.
There are numerous residents marching in urban areas throughout communities, like they performed in the past days in the No Kings rallies.
A former official, wrote recently that “the great sleeping giant of the nation is stirring”, just as it did post-McCarthyism during the fifties or amid anti-war demonstrations or during the Nixon controversy.
During those times, the tilting vessel eventually was righted.
The author states he recognizes the signs of that revival and notices it unfolding now. As support, he cites the large-scale demonstrations, the widespread, cross-party resistance against a television host's removal and the largely united defiance by media to sign government requirements they report only authorized information.
“The sleeping giant always remains inactive till certain corruption grows too toxic, an specific act so disrespectful toward public welfare, certain violence so disruptive, that it is compelled but to awaken.”
It’s an optimistic take, and I appreciate his knowledgeable stance. Possibly he may be validated.
In the meantime, the big questions endure: will the nation ever recover? Can it retrieve its position globally and its commitment to constitutional order?
Or should we recognize that the national endeavor functioned for a period, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?
My negative thoughts suggests that the final scenario is accurate; that all may indeed be lost. My hopeful heart, nevertheless, convinces me that we have to attempt, through all methods available.
For me, as an observer of the press, that’s about urging journalists to adhere, more thoroughly, to their mission of scrutinizing authority. For others, it might involve working on political races, or organizing rallies, or finding ways to protect ballot privileges.
Less than a year ago, we existed in an alternate reality. In the future? Or after another term? The reality is, we are uncertain. The only option is to attempt to not give up.
What Offers Me Optimism Currently
The contact I have with students with aspiring reporters, who are equally hopeful and realistic, {always
