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In late October 2024, the landscape was entirely distinct. Before the national election, thoughtful citizens could recognize America's deep flaws – its inequities and inequality – however they could still perceive it as the United States. A free society. A land where constitutional order carried weight. A state guided by a respectable and decent leader, despite his elderly years and declining health.

These days, as October 2025 ends, many of us hardly identify the land we inhabit. Persons believed to be illegal immigrants are rounded up and forced into vans, occasionally blocked from fair treatment. The left side of the presidential residence – is being torn down for an obscene ballroom. The president is targeting his opponents or supposed enemies and insisting the justice department hand over a huge total of citizen dollars. Soldiers with weapons are being sent into American cities under fabricated reasons. The Pentagon, renamed the Department of War, has effectively rid itself of routine media oversight while it uses possibly reaching almost one trillion dollars from citizen taxes. Colleges, legal practices, news companies are yielding under the president’s threats, and wealthy elites are regarded as aristocracy.

“The US, just months before its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has fallen over the brink into authoritarianism and extremism,” an American historian, wrote recently. “In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen in this country.”

Each day begins with fresh terrors. It is hard to comprehend – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we have become, and the rapid pace with which it occurred.

However, it is known that Trump was properly voted in. Following his highly troubling initial presidency and following the warnings that came with the understanding of the rightwing blueprint – despite the president personally said publicly he intended to act as an autocrat only on the first day – sufficient voters selected him instead of Kamala Harris.

Frightening as the present situation may be, it’s even scarier to understand that we have only been several months under this leadership. Where will three more years of this deterioration find us? And what if that timeframe turns into a more extended duration, because there is not anyone to restrain this president from deciding that a third term is essential, perhaps for security concerns?

Certainly, all is not lost. There will be congressional elections the coming year that may create a new political equilibrium, should Democrats recapture the Senate or House of parliament. We have public servants who are attempting to impose certain responsibility, for example lawmakers who are initiating an inquiry concerning the try to money grab from legal authorities.

And a national vote three years from now could start us down the road toward restoration just as the prior selection put us on this regrettable path.

There are numerous residents protesting in the streets of their cities, similar to recent recently during anti-authority protests.

An ex-cabinet member, stated lately that “the slumbering force of the nation is awakening”, exactly as before post-McCarthyism in the 1950s or amid the Vietnam war protests or during the Nixon controversy.

In those instances, the listing ship ultimately corrected itself.

The author states he knows the indicators of that revival and sees it happening at present. As support, he references the recent massive protests, the widespread, bipartisan pushback against a personality's dismissal and the almost universal refusal by journalists to agree to government requirements they solely cover authorized information.

“The dormant force always remains asleep till specific greed becomes so noxious, some action so offensive of the common good, specific cruelty so disruptive, that it is forced other than to stir.”

It's a positive outlook, and I value the author's seasoned opinion. Perhaps he will be validated.

At the same time, the crucial issues remain: will the nation regain its footing? Can it retrieve its status internationally and its devotion to the rule of law?

Or do we need to admit that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My negative thoughts suggests that the second option is true; that everything might be gone. My optimistic spirit, though, tells me that we have to attempt, in whatever ways possible.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that means encouraging reporters to adhere, more fully, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For different individuals, it could mean participating in congressional campaigns, or coordinating protests, or developing approaches to safeguard electoral access.

Under twelve months back, we lived in a separate situation. A year from now? Or in several years? The truth is, we don’t know. Our sole course is to attempt to persevere.

What’s Giving Me Hope Now

The engagement I experience in the classroom with young journalists, who are equally idealistic and realistic, {always