The Heartbreaking Change Just One Year Has Caused in the United States
Twelve months back, the environment was utterly different. Prior to the US presidential election, thoughtful residents could recognize the country's serious imperfections – its inequities and disparity – but they continued to perceive it as the US. A democratic nation. A country where constitutional order held significance. A country led by a honorable and ethical leader, even with his advanced age and declining health.
Nowadays, in late October 2025, numerous citizens barely recognize the land we reside in. Individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants are rounded up and pushed into vans, sometimes refused legal rights. The East Wing of the “people’s house” – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque ballroom. The president is targeting his adversaries or alleged foes and demanding the justice department surrender an enormous amount of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are being sent into American cities with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, rebranded the War Department, has – in effect – freed itself of regular press examination as it spends what could amount to almost one trillion dollars from citizen taxes. Colleges, law firms, media outlets are buckling from leader's menaces, and billionaires are handled as members of the royal family.
“America, only a few months ahead of its 250th birthday as the planet's foremost free society, has fallen over the brink toward dictatorship and totalitarianism,” Garrett Graff, wrote in August. “Finally, faster than I imagined possible, it occurred in America.”
One awakes to new horrors. And it is hard to comprehend – and painful to realize – how deeply lost our nation is, and how quickly it has happened.
Yet, we know that the president was duly elected. Even after his profoundly alarming previous administration and following the warnings linked to the awareness of the conservative plan – even after the president personally declared plainly he intended to be a dictator solely at the start – enough Americans selected him instead of the other candidate.
Frightening as the present situation is, it's more frightening to recognize that we have only been three-quarters of a year into this administration. How will another 36 months of this downfall position us? And what if the three years becomes a more extended duration, as there is no one to limit this president from determining that another term is essential, perhaps for national security reasons?
Certainly, there is still hope. There will be midterm elections next year that may bring a different political equilibrium, should Democrats recapture the Senate or House of the legislature. There are government representatives who are striving to impose some accountability, such as lawmakers that are launching an investigation concerning the try to fund seizure from the justice department.
And a leadership election in 2028 could start our journey toward restoration exactly as the prior selection put us on this disappointing trajectory.
We see millions of Americans demonstrating in urban areas across municipalities, similar to recent last weekend during anti-authority protests.
Robert Reich, commented this week that “the slumbering force of the nation is stirring”, exactly as before after the Communist witch-hunt era in the 1950s or amid the Vietnam war protests or throughout the Nixon controversy.
On those occasions, the listing ship finally returned to balance.
The author states he knows the indicators of that resurgence and sees it happening now. As support, he points to the widespread marches, the broad, multi-faction opposition regarding a broadcaster's firing and the largely united refusal by journalists to accept the defense department’s demands they solely cover approved content.
“The dormant force perpetually exists dormant till certain corruption turns extremely harmful, a particular deed so offensive toward public welfare, specific cruelty so noisy, that it is forced except to rise.”
It's a positive outlook, and I appreciate the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may be validated.
In the meantime, the major inquiries persist: is the US able to return to normalcy? Is it possible to restore its status in the world and its commitment to legal principles?
Or should we recognize that the historical project worked for a while, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?
My pessimistic brain suggests that the latter is accurate; that everything could be finished. My hopeful heart, however, tells me that we need to strive, by any means available.
Personally, as a media critic, that means encouraging reporters to adhere, more fully, to their purpose of holding power to account. For some people, it could mean engaging with election efforts, or coordinating protests, or discovering methods to safeguard ballot privileges.
Under twelve months back, we were in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or three years from now? The fact is, we don’t know. All we can do is to attempt to persevere.
What Offers Me Hope Now
The contact I have in the classroom with new media professionals, that are simultaneously visionary and practical, {always