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In late October 2024, the environment was entirely separate. Prior to the US presidential election, reflective citizens could acknowledge the country's deep flaws – its injustices and inequality – yet they still could perceive it as the United States. A democracy. A land where legal governance held significance. A state led by a dignified and upright official, notwithstanding his advanced age and declining health.

Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, many of us hardly identify the nation we live in. People believed to be unauthorized foreigners are collected and forced into vehicles, at times denied due process. The East Wing of the White House – is being destroyed to build a lavish ballroom. The president is harassing his political rivals or alleged foes and insisting legal authorities hand over a massive sum of citizen dollars. Soldiers with weapons are deployed across metropolitan centers with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, renamed the Defense Ministry, has effectively rid itself of routine media oversight as it spends what could amount to almost one trillion dollars in public funds. Universities, legal practices, journalism organizations are buckling from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are regarded as aristocracy.

“The US, only a few months ahead of its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has fallen over the edge into autocracy and extremism,” a noted author, stated this past summer. “In the end, swifter than I imagined possible, it occurred in this country.”

Each day begins to new horrors. And it's difficult to grasp – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost our nation is, and how quickly it has happened.

Yet, it is known that the leader was properly voted in. Despite his deeply disturbing initial presidency and even after the warnings associated with the awareness of the conservative plan – following the president personally said publicly he planned to be a dictator just on day one – sufficient voters elected him over his Democratic opponent.

As terrifying as the present situation is, it's more frightening to realize that we are just several months under this leadership. How will three more years of this deterioration position us? And what if the three years becomes a more extended duration, because there is no one to limit this ruler from deciding that additional tenure is necessary, perhaps for security concerns?

Granted, all is not lost. We will have legislative votes next year that could bring a different political equilibrium, should Democrats retake either chamber of parliament. There are government representatives who are striving to exert certain responsibility, like Democratic congressmen who are starting a probe concerning the try to cash appropriation from the justice department.

And a presidential election in 2028 could initiate us down the road toward restoration just as last year’s election placed us on this disappointing trajectory.

There exist numerous residents demonstrating in urban areas throughout communities, similar to recent last weekend in the No Kings rallies.

Robert Reich, stated lately that “the dormant powerhouse of America is awakening”, just as it did post-McCarthyism in the 1950s or throughout anti-war demonstrations or during the Nixon controversy.

During those times, the tilting vessel ultimately corrected itself.

Reich says he knows the signs of that revival and notices it unfolding now. As evidence, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the broad, cross-party resistance regarding a broadcaster's firing and the largely united rejection by reporters to accept military mandates they solely cover what is sanctioned.

“The dormant force always remains dormant until certain corruption turns extremely harmful, a particular deed so contemptuous of societal benefit, specific cruelty so loud, that it is forced but to awaken.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I value the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may turn out correct.

Meanwhile, the big questions remain: can America regain its footing? Can it reclaim its standing internationally and its devotion to legal principles?

Or should we recognize that the 250-year-old experiment worked for a while, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My negative thoughts tells me that the final scenario is correct; that all may indeed be gone. My optimistic spirit, nevertheless, tells me that we have to attempt, by any means available.

For me, as an observer of the press, that’s about encouraging reporters to adhere, more thoroughly, to their mission of scrutinizing authority. For different individuals, it could mean engaging with congressional campaigns, or coordinating protests, or finding ways to protect voting rights.

Less than a year ago, we were in a very different place. A year from now? Or in several years? The fact is, we are uncertain. The only option is to strive to persevere.

What Provides Me Hope Now

The engagement I encounter during teaching with new media professionals, that are simultaneously idealistic and grounded, {always