The Tragic Transformation Only 12 Months Has Brought in the US
In late October 2024, the situation was entirely different. Before the national election, considerate Americans could admit the nation's significant faults – its unfairness and imbalance – but they continued to see it as the US. A democracy. A place where legal governance held significance. A state headed by a dignified and upright official, notwithstanding his advanced age and increasing frailty.
These days, as October 2025 ends, many of us hardly identify the nation we reside in. Persons suspected of being illegal immigrants are detained and forced into vans, occasionally denied due process. The eastern section of the White House – is undergoing demolition for an obscene ballroom. Donald Trump is targeting his political rivals or perceived antagonists and insisting federal prosecutors hand over a massive sum of public funds. Uniformed troops are being sent into American cities with deceptive justifications. The military command, rebranded the War Department, has effectively rid itself of routine media oversight as it spends possibly reaching close to a trillion USD from citizen taxes. Universities, attorney offices, media outlets are submitting under the president’s threats, and rich magnates are regarded as aristocracy.
“America, only a few months ahead of its 250th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the limit toward dictatorship and extremism,” Garrett Graff, wrote this past summer. “Finally, more quickly than I imagined possible, it did happen in this country.”
Each day begins amid recent atrocities. It is hard to comprehend – 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 profoundly alarming previous administration and following the warnings that came with the awareness of the rightwing blueprint – even after the leader directly said publicly he planned to rule as a tyrant just on day one – enough Americans elected him rather than the other candidate.
While alarming as the present situation may be, it's more daunting to realize 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 something even longer, because there is not anyone to stop this president from deciding that additional tenure is required, perhaps for national security reasons?
Granted, not everything is hopeless. We will have congressional elections in 2026 which might establish an alternate political equilibrium, should Democrats retake the Senate or House of Congress. There exist government representatives who are striving to apply some accountability, like lawmakers who are starting a probe into the attempted cash appropriation from legal authorities.
And a presidential election in the next cycle could initiate our journey toward restoration precisely as last year’s election placed us on this unfortunate course.
There exist millions of Americans demonstrating in urban areas of their cities, as they did recently in the No Kings rallies.
An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the great sleeping giant of the US is stirring”, exactly as before after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or throughout anti-war demonstrations or in the Watergate scandal.
On those occasions, the tilting vessel eventually was righted.
Reich says he recognizes the signs of that resurgence and sees it happening at present. As evidence, he points to the widespread marches, the widespread, cross-party resistance against a television host's removal and the largely united refusal by journalists to accept government requirements they only publish what is sanctioned.
“The sleeping giant perpetually exists inactive until some venality becomes so noxious, some action so offensive of societal benefit, certain violence so noisy, that it has no choice but to awaken.”
It’s an optimistic take, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Possibly he may prove to be right.
At the same time, the crucial issues remain: will the nation return to normalcy? Can it retrieve its standing internationally and its devotion to constitutional order?
Or do we need to admit that the national endeavor worked for a while, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?
My negative thoughts suggests that the final scenario is true; that all may indeed be lost. My positive feelings, though, convinces me that we need to strive, in whatever ways possible.
For me, working in journalism analysis, that involves encouraging reporters to commit, more fully, to their purpose of holding power to account. For different individuals, it might involve engaging with political races, or organizing rallies, or developing approaches to protect voting rights.
Not even one year prior, we were in a very different place. A year from now? Or after another term? The truth is, we don’t know. The only option is to attempt to persevere.
What’s Giving Me Optimism Currently
The interaction I experience with students with new media professionals, who are equally hopeful and grounded, {always
