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Twelve months back, the situation was utterly separate. Ahead of the US presidential election, considerate citizens could admit the country's deep flaws – its inequities and inequality – but they continued to identify it as the US. A democracy. A land where legal governance carried weight. A country headed by a respectable and upright public servant, even with his elderly years and declining health.

Currently, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens scarcely know the nation we reside in. Individuals alleged as undocumented migrants are detained and forced into vehicles, sometimes blocked from fair treatment. The East Wing of the “people’s house” – is being torn down for an obscene ballroom. Donald Trump is targeting his opponents or alleged foes and insisting the justice department transfer a huge total of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are dispatched across metropolitan centers with deceptive justifications. The military command, renamed the Defense Ministry, has practically liberated itself of routine media oversight as it spends what could amount to nearly $1tn of taxpayer money. Colleges, legal practices, journalism organizations are buckling due to presidential intimidation, and wealthy elites are regarded as nobility.

“The United States, only a few months ahead of its 250-year mark as the globe's top democratic nation, has crossed the limit toward dictatorship and totalitarianism,” a noted author, wrote in August. “Finally, more quickly than I imagined possible, it transpired in America.”

One awakes amid recent atrocities. It is challenging to understand – and agonizing to acknowledge – just how far gone we are, and how quickly it occurred.

Yet, we understand that the president was properly voted in. Following his highly troubling initial presidency and following the cautions that came with the awareness of the conservative plan – following Trump himself said publicly he planned to act as an autocrat just on day one – enough Americans selected him rather than the other candidate.

While alarming as today's circumstances is, it's more daunting to realize that we have only been several months into this presidential term. How will another 36 months of this downfall position us? And if that timeframe transforms into an prolonged era, since there is not anyone to limit this ruler from determining that a third term is required, possibly for security concerns?

Granted, all is not lost. There are midterm elections in 2026 that could establish an alternate governmental control, should Democrats recapture either chamber of parliament. There are public servants who are attempting to apply a degree of oversight, such as lawmakers that are initiating an inquiry into the attempted cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a presidential election in 2028 could start the path toward restoration exactly as the previous vote put us on this disappointing trajectory.

We see countless citizens protesting in urban areas throughout communities, as they did last weekend at democracy demonstrations.

Robert Reich, stated lately that “the slumbering force of the nation is rising”, just as it did following the Red Scare during the fifties or amid the Vietnam war protests or during the seventies crisis.

In those instances, the unstable nation finally returned to balance.

The author states he recognizes the signals of that revival and observes it occurring now. As support, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the extensive, cross-party resistance against a personality's dismissal and the almost universal rejection by reporters to sign government requirements they only publish approved content.

“The dormant force consistently stays dormant until some venality turns extremely harmful, some action so contemptuous of the common good, specific cruelty so noisy, that the giant is forced but to awaken.”

It's a positive outlook, and I value his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll turn out correct.

Meanwhile, the big questions remain: can America ever recover? Can it retrieve its status internationally and its commitment to legal principles?

Or do we need to admit that the national endeavor succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My cynical mind suggests that the second option is true; that everything could be lost. My hopeful heart, though, tells me that we must try, through all methods possible.

Personally, working in journalism analysis, that involves urging journalists to adhere, more completely, to their purpose of holding power to account. For others, it may be participating in congressional campaigns, or organizing rallies, or finding ways to safeguard ballot privileges.

Not even one year prior, we existed in a very different place. A year from now? Or after another term? The fact is, we don’t know. The only option is to attempt to persevere.

What’s Giving Me Hope Now

The engagement I experience in the classroom with aspiring reporters, that are simultaneously visionary and practical, {always