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In late October 2024, the landscape was utterly separate. Prior to the national election, considerate citizens could recognize the country's serious imperfections – its inequities and inequality – but they could still see it as the US. A free society. A country where legal governance meant something. A nation led by a dignified and decent public servant, despite his older age and increasing frailty.

Nowadays, in late October 2025, numerous citizens scarcely know the land we live in. People believed to be undocumented migrants are collected and pushed into vehicles, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the White House – is being torn down for a grotesque event space. Donald Trump is targeting his adversaries or supposed enemies and insisting the justice department surrender a huge total of public funds. Armed military personnel are being sent to US urban areas under fabricated reasons. The military command, renamed the War Department, has effectively liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny while it uses possibly reaching almost one trillion dollars in public funds. Institutions, law firms, journalism organizations are yielding under the president’s threats, and wealthy elites are regarded as aristocracy.

“America, just months before its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism,” Garrett Graff, commented recently. “Ultimately, faster than I believed likely, it transpired in this country.”

Each day begins with fresh terrors. And it is challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – just how far gone our nation is, and the rapid pace with which it has happened.

However, we understand that the president was duly elected. Despite his deeply disturbing initial presidency and even after the warnings that came with the awareness of the rightwing blueprint – following the president personally declared plainly he planned to rule as a tyrant only on the first day – sufficient voters selected him instead of Kamala Harris.

While alarming as the current reality is, it's more daunting to understand that we have only been nine months into this administration. How will three more years of this downfall position us? And suppose that period transforms into something even longer, since there is not anyone to limit this president from determining that additional tenure is essential, possibly for defense purposes?

Admittedly, all is not lost. There are legislative votes in 2026 that could establish an alternate balance of power, if Democrats recapture one or both houses of the legislature. There exist government representatives who are attempting to apply a degree of oversight, for example lawmakers that are starting a probe concerning the try to cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a presidential election in 2028 could begin the path to recovery precisely as the previous vote set us on this disappointing trajectory.

There are countless citizens demonstrating in urban areas throughout communities, similar to recent last weekend at democracy demonstrations.

Robert Reich, stated lately that “the slumbering force of the US is rising”, just as it did post-McCarthyism in that decade or amid the sixties activism or in the seventies crisis.

On those occasions, the listing ship eventually was righted.

The author states he knows the indicators of that revival and notices it unfolding at present. As support, he references the recent massive protests, the extensive, bipartisan pushback against a television host's removal and the almost universal defiance by media to sign government requirements they solely cover approved content.

“The dormant force perpetually exists inactive until specific greed grows too toxic, a particular deed so offensive toward public welfare, some brutality so disruptive, that he is forced except to rise.”

It's a positive outlook, and I value the author's seasoned opinion. Perhaps he will prove to be right.

At the same time, the major inquiries endure: is the US able to regain its footing? Is it possible to restore its status internationally and its adherence to constitutional order?

Or do we need to admit that the national endeavor functioned for a period, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My negative thoughts tells me that the second option is accurate; that everything could be lost. My optimistic spirit, nevertheless, convinces me that we must try, through all methods we can.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that means encouraging reporters to commit, more completely, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For different individuals, it could mean participating in political races, or coordinating protests, or developing approaches to protect voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we existed in an alternate reality. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The fact is, we don’t know. The only option is try to not give up.

What Offers Me Encouragement Today

The contact I experience in the classroom with new media professionals, who are both hopeful and grounded, {always