The Devastating Change Just One Year Has Brought in the United States

Twelve months back, the environment was entirely different. Prior to the US presidential election, considerate citizens could recognize the country's deep flaws – its unfairness and disparity – however they could still perceive it as the US. A democratic nation. A land where the rule of law meant something. A state guided by a honorable and ethical leader, even with his elderly years and declining health.

Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens scarcely know the country we reside in. Persons believed to be illegal immigrants are rounded up and forced into transport, at times blocked from fair treatment. The left side of the “people’s house” – is undergoing demolition for a grotesque dance hall. Donald Trump is harassing his adversaries or alleged foes and requesting legal authorities transfer an enormous amount of public funds. Armed military personnel are dispatched to US urban areas on false pretexts. The defense headquarters, relabeled the Defense Ministry, has effectively rid itself of regular press examination during its expenditure of what could amount to nearly $1tn in public funds. Colleges, law firms, news companies are submitting due to presidential intimidation, and wealthy elites are handled as members of the royal family.

“The United States, shortly prior to its quarter-millennium anniversary as the world’s leading democracy, has fallen over the limit into authoritarianism and extremism,” an American historian, commented recently. “Finally, faster than I believed likely, it occurred in this country.”

One awakes with fresh terrors. And it's difficult to grasp – and agonizing to acknowledge – how deeply lost we are, and the speed at which it has happened.

However, it is known that the leader was properly voted in. Even after his profoundly alarming first term and following the alerts that came with the awareness of the rightwing blueprint – following the president personally declared plainly he intended to be a dictator solely at the start – sufficient voters chose him instead of his Democratic opponent.

While alarming as today's circumstances are, it's more frightening to realize that we have only been three-quarters of a year under this leadership. What will an additional three years of this decline find us? And if that period transforms into an prolonged era, because there is no one to stop this president from opting that additional tenure is required, possibly for security concerns?

Certainly, there is still hope. There are midterm elections the coming year that could create a new governmental control, if Democrats retake either chamber of Congress. There exist government representatives who are striving to impose some accountability, such as lawmakers currently launching an investigation regarding the effort to cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a leadership election three years from now could begin our journey to healing exactly as the previous vote set us on this regrettable path.

We see numerous residents demonstrating in urban areas across municipalities, as they did last weekend at democracy demonstrations.

An ex-cabinet member, wrote recently that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is awakening”, exactly as before post-McCarthyism during the fifties or amid anti-war demonstrations or during the Watergate scandal.

On those occasions, the unstable nation finally returned to balance.

Reich says he understands the signs of that revival and sees it happening now. As evidence, he points to the large-scale demonstrations, the broad, multi-faction opposition to a broadcaster's firing and the near-unanimous rejection by reporters to accept the defense department’s demands they solely cover approved content.

“The dormant force always remains inactive before specific greed grows too toxic, an specific act so contemptuous toward public welfare, certain violence so disruptive, that it is compelled except to rise.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I respect the author's seasoned opinion. Perhaps he will be validated.

Meanwhile, the major inquiries endure: will the nation regain its footing? Can it retrieve its status in the world and its adherence to constitutional order?

Or do we need to admit that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My cynical mind tells me that the latter is accurate; that everything could be finished. My optimistic spirit, nevertheless, convinces me that we have to attempt, in whatever ways we can.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that involves encouraging reporters to live up, more completely, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For different individuals, it might involve engaging with election efforts, or coordinating protests, or finding ways to defend voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we lived in an alternate reality. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The truth is, we don’t know. Our sole course is try to not give up.

What’s Giving Me Encouragement Today

The engagement I encounter with students with aspiring reporters, that are simultaneously hopeful and grounded, {always