The Devastating Change Just One Year Has Made in the US
Twelve months back, the situation was utterly separate. Before the American presidential vote, reflective Americans could acknowledge the country's significant faults – its injustices and imbalance – yet they continued to perceive it as the US. A democratic nation. A land where legal governance meant something. A state guided by a dignified and decent leader, despite his elderly years and declining health.
Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, countless Americans barely recognize the country we inhabit. Persons alleged as illegal immigrants are detained and forced into vehicles, at times denied due process. The left side of the White House – is being destroyed to build a lavish dance hall. The leader is persecuting his opponents or supposed enemies and insisting the justice department surrender an enormous amount of taxpayer money. Armed military personnel are being sent into American cities on false pretexts. The Pentagon, rebranded the Department of War, has effectively liberated itself of regular press examination during its expenditure of what could amount to close to a trillion USD from citizen taxes. Colleges, attorney offices, journalism organizations are yielding from leader's menaces, and wealthy elites are regarded as aristocracy.
“America, just months before its 250-year mark as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the limit into autocracy and fascism,” a noted author, stated recently. “Ultimately, more quickly than I believed likely, it transpired in this country.”
Each day begins to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost our nation is, and how quickly it has happened.
Yet, we understand that the president was properly voted in. Following his highly troubling first term and even after the alerts that came with the knowledge of Project 2025 – even after Trump himself stated openly he planned to act as an autocrat just on day one – enough Americans elected him over the other candidate.
As terrifying as the present situation are, it’s even scarier to understand that we are just three-quarters of a year into this administration. What will another 36 months of this deterioration leave us? And suppose that timeframe transforms into an prolonged era, because there is not anyone to restrain this leader from opting that a third term is necessary, possibly for national security reasons?
Admittedly, there is still hope. There will be midterm elections next year which might bring a different governmental control, should Democrats retake one or both houses of parliament. We have elected officials who are striving to apply a degree of oversight, like Democratic congressmen who are initiating an inquiry regarding the effort to money grab by federal prosecutors.
And a leadership election in the next cycle could initiate us down the road to healing just as last year’s election put us on this disappointing trajectory.
We see countless citizens marching in urban areas across municipalities, similar to recent last weekend during anti-authority protests.
A former official, commented this week that “the great sleeping giant of America is rising”, just as it did following the Red Scare during the fifties or during the Vietnam war protests or during the Nixon controversy.
On those occasions, the listing ship eventually was righted.
Reich says he recognizes the signs of that awakening and sees it happening now. As evidence, he points to the widespread marches, the extensive, multi-faction opposition against a broadcaster's firing and the largely united refusal by journalists to agree to military mandates they solely cover what is sanctioned.
“The dormant force consistently stays dormant till specific greed turns extremely harmful, a particular deed so contemptuous of the common good, certain violence so disruptive, that it has no choice but to awaken.”
It's a positive outlook, and I appreciate his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll turn out correct.
Meanwhile, the major inquiries remain: will the nation return to normalcy? Can it retrieve its status globally and its devotion to legal principles?
Or should we recognize that the national endeavor succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?
My pessimistic brain indicates that the final scenario is accurate; that everything could be lost. My optimistic spirit, though, convinces me that we need to strive, through all methods we can.
Personally, as an observer of the press, that means encouraging reporters to adhere, more fully, to their mission of holding power to account. For different individuals, it could mean working on political races, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to protect ballot privileges.
Less than a year ago, we lived in a separate situation. In the future? Or after another term? The truth is, we don’t know. The only option is try to continue fighting.
What Offers Me Hope Now
The contact I encounter in the classroom with aspiring reporters, who are equally hopeful and grounded, {always
