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Twelve months back, the situation was completely separate. Prior to the US presidential election, considerate Americans could admit the country's significant faults – its unfairness and disparity – yet they continued to perceive it as the United States. A democratic nation. A place where the rule of law held significance. A nation guided by a dignified and ethical official, even with his advanced age and growing weakness.

Currently, as October 2025 ends, many of us hardly identify the land we live in. Individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants are collected and pushed into vans, occasionally refused legal rights. The left side of the White House – is being torn down for a grotesque event space. The leader is targeting his adversaries or alleged foes and demanding the justice department transfer an enormous amount of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are dispatched to US urban areas under fabricated reasons. The military command, renamed the War Department, has effectively rid itself of regular press examination as it spends what could amount to close to a trillion USD of taxpayer money. Institutions, law firms, media outlets are yielding due to presidential intimidation, and rich magnates are treated like members of the royal family.

“The United States, only a few months ahead of its 250-year mark as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the brink toward dictatorship and extremism,” Garrett Graff, wrote recently. “In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it occurred in America.”

One awakes to new horrors. And it is hard to comprehend – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost we are, and the rapid pace with which it has happened.

However, we know that Trump was legitimately chosen. Even after his profoundly alarming first term and even after the warnings linked to the knowledge of the rightwing blueprint – despite Trump himself said publicly he intended to be a dictator only on the first day – enough Americans chose him over Kamala Harris.

As terrifying as the current reality may be, it’s even scarier to understand that we’re only several months into this presidential term. Where will another 36 months of this deterioration leave us? And if that period turns into a more extended duration, because there is nobody to stop this president from opting that a third term is required, maybe for security concerns?

Admittedly, all is not lost. There will be congressional elections next year which might bring a different political equilibrium, in case Democrats regain one or both houses of the legislature. There are elected officials who are attempting to exert certain responsibility, such as representatives currently initiating an inquiry into the attempted money grab from legal authorities.

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

There exist numerous residents marching in urban areas throughout communities, as they did recently during anti-authority protests.

An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the slumbering force of America is rising”, exactly as before post-McCarthyism in that decade or during the Vietnam war protests or throughout the Nixon controversy.

On those occasions, the listing ship eventually was righted.

Reich says he recognizes the indicators of that revival and sees it happening currently. As evidence, he cites the recent massive protests, the extensive, multi-faction opposition regarding a broadcaster's firing and the largely united refusal by journalists to accept government requirements they solely cover approved content.

“The dormant force always remains asleep till some venality turns extremely harmful, a particular deed so disrespectful of the common good, certain violence so loud, that he is compelled other than to stir.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I appreciate Reich’s experienced view. Possibly he may be validated.

In the meantime, the crucial issues persist: can America ever recover? Can it reclaim its position internationally and its commitment to legal principles?

Or do we need to admit that the national endeavor worked for a while, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My negative thoughts suggests that the second option is accurate; that all may indeed be finished. My positive feelings, nevertheless, tells me that we have to attempt, through all methods we can.

Personally, as an observer of the press, that means pushing media professionals to live up, more completely, to their duty of holding power to account. For some people, it could mean working on election efforts, or planning demonstrations, or finding ways to safeguard voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we lived in a very different place. A year from now? Or after another term? The truth is, we don’t know. Our sole course is to strive to persevere.

What’s Giving Me Hope Now

The contact I have with students with aspiring reporters, that are simultaneously visionary and practical, {always