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Twelve months back, the environment was completely separate. Prior to the American presidential vote, considerate residents could admit America's deep flaws – its injustices and imbalance – however they still could perceive it as the United States. A democracy. A land where the rule of law carried weight. A nation headed by a respectable and decent public servant, even with his older age and growing weakness.

These days, as October 2025 ends, many of us barely recognize the land we inhabit. Individuals alleged as illegal immigrants are detained and forced into vans, occasionally denied due process. The eastern section of the “people’s house” – is being destroyed for a grotesque ballroom. Donald Trump is targeting his opponents or alleged foes and requesting the justice department surrender an enormous amount of citizen dollars. Armed military personnel are dispatched into American cities under fabricated reasons. The military command, relabeled the War Department, has effectively rid itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends potentially totaling nearly $1tn in public funds. Universities, law firms, journalism organizations are yielding due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are regarded as nobility.

“America, just months before its 250^th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has fallen over the limit toward dictatorship and totalitarianism,” Garrett Graff, wrote in August. “In the end, faster than I believed likely, it occurred here.”

Every morning starts with fresh terrors. And it's difficult to grasp – and distressing to accept – how severely declined our nation is, and how quickly it occurred.

However, it is known that Trump was duly elected. Even after his profoundly alarming previous administration and despite the alerts that came with the awareness of the conservative plan – following Trump himself declared plainly he intended to rule as a tyrant only on the first day – a majority of citizens selected him over his Democratic opponent.

Frightening as the present situation is, it's more frightening to recognize that we are just three-quarters of a year under this leadership. How will three more years of this downfall find us? And what if that timeframe becomes an prolonged era, since there is not anyone to restrain this ruler from deciding that another term is necessary, perhaps for national security reasons?

Granted, all is not lost. We will have legislative votes next year that could create a new governmental control, in case Democrats regain one or both houses of parliament. We have elected officials who are striving to exert a degree of oversight, such as Democratic congressmen currently launching an investigation into the attempted money grab by federal prosecutors.

And a leadership election in 2028 could start us down the road to healing precisely as last year’s election placed us on this disappointing trajectory.

There exist millions of Americans marching in the streets across municipalities, as they did recently at democracy demonstrations.

Robert Reich, commented this week that “the slumbering force of America is stirring”, just as it did following the Red Scare in that decade or amid the Vietnam war protests or during the seventies crisis.

During those times, the tilting vessel ultimately corrected itself.

The author states he understands the signs of that resurgence and notices it unfolding at present. As evidence, he points to the recent massive protests, the widespread, multi-faction opposition against a television host's removal and the almost universal rejection by reporters to agree to military mandates they only publish approved content.

“The sleeping giant consistently stays asleep till some venality becomes so noxious, some action so contemptuous of the common good, some brutality so disruptive, that it has no choice except to rise.”

It's a positive outlook, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will prove to be right.

At the same time, the major inquiries remain: is the US able to ever recover? Is it possible to restore its standing in the world and its devotion to the rule of law?

Or do we need to admit that the national endeavor succeeded temporarily, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My cynical mind suggests that the second option is accurate; that everything could be finished. My hopeful heart, nevertheless, tells me that we need to strive, in whatever ways available.

Personally, working in journalism analysis, that means encouraging reporters to commit, more completely, to their purpose of scrutinizing authority. For others, it could mean engaging with congressional campaigns, or organizing rallies, or finding ways to defend voting rights.

Under twelve months back, we existed in a very different place. Twelve months later? Or in several years? The truth is, we cannot predict. The only option is to strive to persevere.

What Offers Me Encouragement Today

The contact I have in the classroom with new media professionals, who are equally visionary and grounded, {always