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In late October 2024, the situation was utterly distinct. Prior to the national election, thoughtful residents could acknowledge America's serious imperfections – its inequities and inequality – but they could still perceive it as the US. A democracy. A country where the rule of law meant something. A state led by a dignified and decent public servant, despite his advanced age and declining health.

Nowadays, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens hardly identify the land we reside in. Individuals suspected of being undocumented migrants are collected and forced into transport, sometimes denied due process. The eastern section of the White House – is undergoing demolition to build a lavish dance hall. The president is persecuting his opponents or alleged foes and requesting the justice department transfer a huge total of taxpayer money. Armed military personnel are being sent into American cities on false pretexts. The military command, relabeled the War Department, has practically liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends possibly reaching close to a trillion USD from citizen taxes. Colleges, legal practices, news companies are buckling due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are treated like aristocracy.

“The United States, only a few months ahead of its quarter-millennium anniversary as the world’s leading democracy, has fallen over the brink into autocracy and totalitarianism,” an American historian, wrote this past summer. “Ultimately, more quickly than I believed likely, it did happen in America.”

One awakes to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – just how far gone we have become, and how quickly it occurred.

However, we understand that Trump was duly elected. Even after his deeply disturbing first term and following the alerts associated with the knowledge of Project 2025 – even after the leader directly declared plainly he planned to rule as a tyrant just on day one – enough Americans selected him rather than the other candidate.

As terrifying as the present situation are, it’s even scarier to understand that we have only been several months under this leadership. Where will three more years of this downfall find us? And what if that timeframe becomes an prolonged era, since there is nobody to limit this leader from determining that a third term is essential, maybe for national security reasons?

Granted, all is not lost. There are congressional elections in 2026 that could bring a different balance of power, should Democrats regain one or both houses of the legislature. We have public servants who are trying to exert a degree of oversight, such as lawmakers who are initiating an inquiry into the attempted cash appropriation from legal authorities.

And a national vote in 2028 could start us down the road to recovery just as last year’s election put us on this regrettable path.

There exist millions of Americans marching in urban areas of their cities, as they did last weekend at democracy demonstrations.

An ex-cabinet member, wrote recently that “the slumbering force of the nation is stirring”, just as it did following the Red Scare in the 1950s or throughout the Vietnam war protests or in the Nixon controversy.

On those occasions, the tilting vessel ultimately corrected itself.

The author states he recognizes the signals of that resurgence and sees it happening now. As evidence, he references the recent massive protests, the extensive, cross-party resistance to a personality's dismissal and the largely united defiance by media to agree to military mandates they solely cover what is sanctioned.

“The sleeping giant consistently stays inactive till specific greed turns extremely harmful, an specific act so offensive of societal benefit, some brutality so loud, that he is compelled other than to stir.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will be validated.

At the same time, the major inquiries remain: can America regain its footing? Can it reclaim its standing internationally and its devotion to legal principles?

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

My cynical mind tells me that the second option is true; that everything might be gone. My optimistic spirit, though, convinces me that we need to strive, by any means we can.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that’s about urging journalists to adhere, more fully, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For some people, it might involve engaging with congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to defend voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we existed in an alternate reality. Twelve months later? Or in several years? The truth is, we cannot predict. Our sole course is try to persevere.

What Offers Me Hope Now

The interaction I encounter during teaching with new media professionals, who are both idealistic and grounded, {always