The Devastating Change Just One Year Has Made in the United States
One year ago, the situation was completely separate. Ahead of the American presidential vote, reflective residents could acknowledge the country's serious imperfections – its injustices and disparity – however they could still identify it as the US. A democracy. A country where constitutional order meant something. A state led by a dignified and decent official, despite his elderly years and growing weakness.
Nowadays, in late October 2025, numerous citizens barely recognize the country we inhabit. Persons believed to be undocumented migrants are collected and shoved into transport, sometimes denied due process. The left side of the White House – is being destroyed to build a lavish ballroom. The president is targeting his political rivals or perceived antagonists and demanding federal prosecutors transfer a massive sum of citizen dollars. Armed military personnel are dispatched to US urban areas with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, rebranded the Defense Ministry, has effectively rid itself of routine media oversight during its expenditure of potentially totaling nearly $1tn from citizen taxes. Universities, law firms, journalism organizations are submitting due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are treated like aristocracy.
“America, shortly prior to its 250-year mark as the globe's top democratic nation, has crossed the edge into autocracy and extremism,” an American historian, stated this past summer. “Ultimately, swifter than I imagined possible, it did happen in this country.”
Each day begins with fresh terrors. And it's challenging to understand – and painful to realize – just how far gone we are, and how quickly it occurred.
Yet, it is known that the leader was legitimately chosen. Following his highly troubling first term and even after the warnings that came with the understanding of the conservative plan – following the president personally declared plainly he would rule as a tyrant only on the first day – enough Americans chose him instead of Kamala Harris.
Frightening as today's circumstances may be, it's more daunting to realize that we are just nine months under this leadership. Where will three more years of this downfall position us? And if that timeframe transforms into something even longer, as there is nobody to limit this ruler from determining that a third term is necessary, maybe for security concerns?
Certainly, there is still hope. There are congressional elections in 2026 which might create a new balance of power, if Democrats recapture one or both houses of Congress. There are public servants who are attempting to apply certain responsibility, for example lawmakers that are launching an investigation into the attempted money grab from the justice department.
And a presidential election in 2028 could begin our journey to recovery exactly as last year’s election placed us on this regrettable path.
We see countless citizens demonstrating in the streets of their cities, similar to recent last weekend during anti-authority protests.
An ex-cabinet member, wrote recently that “the dormant powerhouse of America is stirring”, just as it did following the Red Scare in the 1950s or throughout the Vietnam war protests or throughout the Nixon controversy.
On those occasions, the listing ship finally returned to balance.
Reich says he recognizes the signals of that awakening and observes it occurring now. For proof, he points to the recent massive protests, the broad, bipartisan pushback against a broadcaster's firing and the near-unanimous rejection by reporters to agree to military mandates they report only approved content.
“The dormant force perpetually exists asleep before specific greed grows too toxic, an specific act so disrespectful of societal benefit, some brutality so noisy, that it has no choice other than to stir.”
It's a hopeful perspective, and I value the author's seasoned opinion. Perhaps he will prove to be right.
Meanwhile, the big questions persist: can America ever recover? Can it retrieve its standing in the world and its devotion to legal principles?
Or must we acknowledge that the 250-year-old experiment functioned for a period, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?
My cynical mind suggests that the final scenario is accurate; that everything could be lost. My hopeful heart, though, convinces me that we have to attempt, through all methods possible.
Personally, working in journalism analysis, that’s about encouraging reporters to commit, more fully, to their purpose of overseeing leadership. For different individuals, it could mean engaging with political races, or organizing rallies, or discovering methods to defend electoral access.
Not even one year prior, we lived in an alternate reality. In the future? Or after another term? The fact is, we don’t know. The only option is to strive to persevere.
What’s Giving Me Hope Now
The contact I have during teaching with new media professionals, who are both idealistic and realistic, {always
