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Twelve months back, the situation was entirely different. Ahead of the US presidential election, thoughtful Americans could acknowledge the country's significant faults – its unfairness and inequality – but they could still perceive it as America. A democracy. A land where legal governance held significance. A country led by a honorable and decent leader, even with his elderly years and growing weakness.

Currently, as October 2025 ends, many of us scarcely know the land we inhabit. Individuals alleged as unauthorized foreigners are rounded up and forced into transport, occasionally blocked from fair treatment. The East Wing of the presidential residence – is undergoing demolition for an obscene ballroom. The leader is harassing his adversaries or supposed enemies and requesting the justice department surrender a massive sum of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are being sent into American cities under fabricated reasons. The military command, renamed the War Department, has – in effect – freed itself of regular press examination as it spends potentially totaling nearly $1tn from citizen taxes. Colleges, legal practices, news companies are buckling from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are treated like aristocracy.

“The US, shortly prior to its quarter-millennium anniversary as the world’s leading democracy, has fallen over the limit into authoritarianism and fascism,” Garrett Graff, wrote recently. “Ultimately, swifter than I imagined possible, it did happen in this country.”

Each day begins to new horrors. And it is challenging to understand – and agonizing to acknowledge – how deeply lost we are, and the rapid pace with which it occurred.

However, we know that the leader was legitimately chosen. Despite his deeply disturbing previous administration and even after the warnings that came with the knowledge of the rightwing blueprint – even after Trump himself said publicly he would act as an autocrat just on day one – enough Americans chose him instead of his Democratic opponent.

As terrifying as today's circumstances are, it's more daunting to realize that we are just several months under this leadership. How will an additional three years of this downfall position us? And suppose that timeframe turns into a more extended duration, because there is no one to restrain this leader from opting that a third term is necessary, perhaps for security concerns?

Admittedly, there is still hope. There will be legislative votes next year which might create a new political equilibrium, should Democrats retake the Senate or House of parliament. There exist elected officials who are trying to exert some accountability, such as representatives currently starting a probe into the attempted cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a leadership election three years from now could initiate our journey to healing precisely as the previous vote placed us on this disappointing trajectory.

There are numerous residents demonstrating in the streets across municipalities, like they performed recently during anti-authority protests.

A former official, stated lately that “the dormant powerhouse of the US is awakening”, just as it did following the Red Scare in the 1950s or during anti-war demonstrations or throughout the Nixon controversy.

In those instances, the tilting vessel eventually was righted.

He claims he recognizes the signs of that resurgence and notices it unfolding at present. For proof, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the widespread, multi-faction opposition against a television host's removal and the almost universal rejection by reporters to agree to the defense department’s demands they solely cover what is sanctioned.

“The sleeping giant always remains asleep till some venality turns extremely harmful, a particular deed so contemptuous of the common good, certain violence so noisy, that it is forced other than to stir.”

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

At the same time, the crucial issues remain: can America return to normalcy? Is it possible to restore its position internationally and its devotion to the rule of law?

Or should we recognize that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My negative thoughts suggests that the latter is accurate; that everything could be finished. My hopeful heart, though, advises me that we have to attempt, in whatever ways we can.

Personally, as a media critic, that means encouraging reporters to adhere, more fully, to their mission of scrutinizing authority. For others, it might involve engaging with election efforts, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to safeguard ballot privileges.

Under twelve months back, we lived in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or in several years? The truth is, we cannot predict. The only option is to attempt to not give up.

What Provides Me Optimism Currently

The engagement I encounter in the classroom with new media professionals, who are both hopeful and realistic, {always