The Devastating Change Only 12 Months Has Brought in America
Twelve months back, the landscape was entirely distinct. Before the American presidential vote, considerate residents could acknowledge the country's significant faults – its unfairness and inequality – but they continued to identify it as America. A free society. A place where the rule of law carried weight. A country guided by a honorable and upright leader, despite his advanced age and growing weakness.
These days, as October 2025 ends, countless Americans hardly identify the country we live in. People believed to be undocumented migrants are detained and shoved into vans, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the White House – is being torn down for a grotesque dance hall. Donald Trump is persecuting his political rivals or perceived antagonists and demanding legal authorities surrender a huge total of taxpayer money. Uniformed troops are being sent across metropolitan centers on false pretexts. The defense headquarters, rebranded the Department of War, has – in effect – liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends what could amount to close to a trillion USD in public funds. Colleges, legal practices, media outlets are buckling due to presidential intimidation, and rich magnates are regarded as aristocracy.
“The United States, only a few months ahead of its 250th birthday as the planet's foremost free society, has fallen over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism,” Garrett Graff, wrote in August. “Finally, more quickly than I imagined possible, it transpired here.”
Each day begins with fresh terrors. It is difficult to grasp – and painful to realize – how deeply lost our nation is, and the speed at which it has happened.
Yet, we understand that the leader was duly elected. Despite his highly troubling first term and despite the cautions associated with the understanding of the rightwing blueprint – despite the president personally stated openly he intended to be a dictator solely at the start – sufficient voters chose him over his Democratic opponent.
While alarming as the current reality is, it’s even scarier to understand that we have only been three-quarters of a year into this administration. Where will an additional three years of this downfall leave us? And what if that period becomes something even longer, because there is no one to limit this president from determining that additional tenure is necessary, possibly for security concerns?
Granted, there is still hope. There are midterm elections in 2026 that may establish an alternate political equilibrium, if Democrats retake either chamber of Congress. There are elected officials who are striving to impose certain responsibility, like lawmakers currently starting a probe into the attempted cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.
And a national vote in the next cycle could start us down the road to recovery exactly as last year’s election put us on this unfortunate course.
There exist numerous residents marching in public spaces of their cities, similar to recent last weekend at democracy demonstrations.
An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the slumbering force of the nation is stirring”, just as it did after the Communist witch-hunt era in that decade or throughout anti-war demonstrations or during the Nixon controversy.
In those instances, the tilting vessel finally returned to balance.
Reich says he knows the signals of that resurgence and observes it occurring currently. For proof, he cites the recent massive protests, the widespread, cross-party resistance against a television host's removal and the largely united refusal by journalists to agree to government requirements they report only authorized information.
“The dormant force always remains asleep until certain corruption grows too toxic, an specific act so offensive of societal benefit, some brutality so noisy, that the giant is forced except to rise.”
It's a hopeful perspective, and I respect Reich’s experienced view. Maybe he’ll prove to be right.
At the same time, the crucial issues persist: is the US able to regain its footing? Is it possible to restore its standing internationally and its devotion to legal principles?
Or should we recognize that the historical project functioned for a period, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?
My pessimistic brain indicates that the second option is true; that everything could be lost. My hopeful heart, however, tells me that we have to attempt, in whatever ways available.
Personally, working in journalism analysis, that’s about pushing media professionals to adhere, more thoroughly, to their mission of holding power to account. For others, it might involve participating in election efforts, or organizing rallies, or developing approaches to safeguard electoral access.
Less than a year ago, we lived in a very different place. A year from now? Or after another term? The reality is, we are uncertain. All we can do is to attempt to not give up.
What Offers Me Optimism Currently
The engagement I encounter in the classroom with aspiring reporters, who are both idealistic and realistic, {always
