The Tragic Transformation Just One Year Has Made in the United States
Twelve months back, the situation was completely separate. Prior to the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could acknowledge the country's significant faults – its inequities and imbalance – yet they still could identify it as the US. A free society. A place where constitutional order held significance. A country led by a honorable and ethical public servant, even with his advanced age and increasing frailty.
Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, many of us barely recognize the nation we reside in. Persons suspected of being undocumented migrants are detained and shoved into vehicles, sometimes refused legal rights. The eastern section of the White House – is being destroyed for a grotesque event space. Donald Trump is persecuting his adversaries or supposed enemies and requesting federal prosecutors hand over a huge total of taxpayer money. Armed military personnel are deployed across metropolitan centers under fabricated reasons. The military command, relabeled the Department of War, has effectively liberated itself of regular press examination during its expenditure of potentially totaling nearly $1tn in public funds. Institutions, law firms, news companies are submitting from leader's menaces, and billionaires are treated like members of the royal family.
“America, only a few months ahead of its 250th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has fallen over the edge toward dictatorship and extremism,” Garrett Graff, stated in August. “In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen in this country.”
Every morning starts with fresh terrors. And it is challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost we are, and the speed at which it occurred.
Yet, it is known that the president was legitimately chosen. Even after his deeply disturbing initial presidency and despite the warnings that came with the understanding of Project 2025 – even after Trump himself said publicly he intended to be a dictator just on day one – a majority of citizens elected him rather than his Democratic opponent.
While alarming as the present situation is, it’s even scarier to recognize that we have only been several months into this administration. How will another 36 months of this downfall leave us? And what if the three years turns into an prolonged era, because there is nobody to limit this leader from deciding that a third term is essential, possibly for national security reasons?
Admittedly, all is not lost. There are legislative votes in 2026 that could create a new governmental control, in case Democrats retake either chamber of parliament. We have government representatives who are striving to impose some accountability, such as lawmakers that are starting a probe regarding the effort to cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.
And a national vote in 2028 could begin us down the road toward restoration precisely as the previous vote placed us on this regrettable path.
There are millions of Americans marching in the streets of their cities, like they performed recently during anti-authority protests.
Robert Reich, wrote recently that “the slumbering force of America is rising”, similar to past after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or during the Vietnam war protests or in the Nixon controversy.
During those times, the listing ship ultimately corrected itself.
The author states he knows the indicators of that awakening and observes it occurring now. For proof, he cites the widespread marches, the widespread, multi-faction opposition to a broadcaster's firing and the largely united refusal by journalists to agree to the defense department’s demands they report only approved content.
“The sleeping giant always remains inactive till certain corruption grows too toxic, a particular deed so contemptuous of societal benefit, some brutality so disruptive, that it has no choice other than to stir.”
It's a positive outlook, and I appreciate his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll be validated.
Meanwhile, the big questions remain: is the US able to return to normalcy? Can it retrieve its standing in the world and its adherence to legal principles?
Or should we recognize that the national endeavor worked for a while, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?
My pessimistic brain tells me that the latter is accurate; that all may indeed be lost. My optimistic spirit, though, convinces me that we must try, in whatever ways we can.
Personally, as a media critic, that involves encouraging reporters to live up, more completely, to their mission of scrutinizing authority. For others, it may be engaging with election efforts, or organizing rallies, or discovering methods to safeguard ballot privileges.
Not even one year prior, we existed in a separate situation. In the future? Or in several years? The truth is, we are uncertain. All we can do is to strive to continue fighting.
What Offers Me Hope Now
The interaction I experience during teaching with aspiring reporters, that are simultaneously hopeful and practical, {always
