The Tragic Transformation a Single Year Has Brought in the United States

Twelve months back, the environment was entirely separate. Prior to the US presidential election, considerate Americans could admit the country's deep flaws – its unfairness and inequality – however they continued to see it as America. A democracy. A land where legal governance carried weight. A country guided by a dignified and decent official, even with his elderly years and declining health.

Nowadays, this autumn, numerous citizens hardly identify the land we reside in. People suspected of being illegal immigrants are collected and shoved into transport, at times refused legal rights. The eastern section of the White House – is undergoing demolition for an obscene event space. The president is targeting his adversaries or perceived antagonists and requesting the justice department hand over an enormous amount of public funds. Uniformed troops are dispatched into American cities with deceptive justifications. The Pentagon, relabeled the War Department, has – in effect – freed itself of regular press examination as it spends possibly reaching almost one trillion dollars of taxpayer money. Institutions, legal practices, journalism organizations are submitting under the president’s threats, and billionaires are regarded as members of the royal family.

“The United States, shortly prior to its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the brink into authoritarianism and extremism,” Garrett Graff, wrote in August. “In the end, faster than I thought feasible, it did happen here.”

One awakes with fresh terrors. And it's hard to comprehend – and painful to realize – how severely declined we are, and the speed at which it has happened.

Nevertheless, it is known that Trump was legitimately chosen. Even after his profoundly alarming first term and despite the warnings linked to the awareness of Project 2025 – following the leader directly said publicly he would rule as a tyrant just on day one – enough Americans elected him rather than his Democratic opponent.

Frightening as the current reality may be, it's more frightening to understand that we are just three-quarters of a year into this administration. How will an additional three years of this deterioration leave us? And what if that timeframe transforms into an prolonged era, as there is no one to stop this leader from deciding that a third term is required, possibly for national security reasons?

Granted, not everything is hopeless. There are legislative votes in 2026 that could create a new governmental control, if Democrats regain the Senate or House of the legislature. There are elected officials who are attempting to apply certain responsibility, for example Democratic congressmen currently launching an investigation into the attempted money grab by federal prosecutors.

And a national vote in 2028 could begin us down the road to recovery just as the previous vote set us on this disappointing trajectory.

There are numerous residents demonstrating in urban areas throughout communities, as they did recently in the No Kings rallies.

A former official, wrote recently that “the slumbering force of the US is stirring”, exactly as before after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or amid the sixties activism or in the Watergate scandal.

On those occasions, the unstable nation finally returned to balance.

He claims he knows the indicators of that revival and sees it happening currently. For proof, he cites the recent massive protests, the widespread, multi-faction opposition against a television host's removal and the largely united defiance by media to sign the defense department’s demands they report only approved content.

“The slumbering entity perpetually exists inactive till some venality grows too toxic, a particular deed so contemptuous of the common good, some brutality so noisy, that he is forced but to awaken.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I respect Reich’s experienced view. Perhaps he will turn out correct.

In the meantime, the major inquiries endure: is the US able to ever recover? Is it possible to restore its position internationally and its devotion to legal principles?

Or do we need to admit that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My pessimistic brain tells me that the latter is true; that everything could be lost. My optimistic spirit, however, advises me that we need to strive, in whatever ways we can.

For me, as a media critic, that’s about urging journalists to live up, more thoroughly, to their duty of overseeing leadership. For some people, it may be engaging with congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or developing approaches to safeguard voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we lived in a very different place. Twelve months later? Or in several years? The truth is, we cannot predict. All we can do is to strive to continue fighting.

What’s Giving Me Hope Now

The interaction I have during teaching with young journalists, who are both hopeful and realistic, {always