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One year ago, the landscape was utterly different. Prior to the US presidential election, thoughtful residents could admit America's serious imperfections – its inequities and inequality – but they still could identify it as the United States. A free society. A place where legal governance carried weight. A country led by a respectable and ethical public servant, notwithstanding his advanced age and declining health.

These days, as October 2025 ends, numerous citizens scarcely know the nation we live in. People suspected of being unauthorized foreigners are detained and forced into transport, occasionally denied due process. The eastern section of the “people’s house” – is being destroyed for a grotesque event space. The president is harassing his adversaries or alleged foes and insisting legal authorities hand over a huge total of public funds. Soldiers with weapons are being sent to US urban areas on false pretexts. The military command, rebranded the Department of War, has – in effect – liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny during its expenditure of possibly reaching almost one trillion dollars from citizen taxes. Institutions, legal practices, media outlets are submitting due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are treated like members of the royal family.

“The US, only a few months ahead of its 250^th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the brink into authoritarianism and totalitarianism,” an American historian, wrote this past summer. “Ultimately, swifter than I believed likely, it did happen in America.”

One awakes with fresh terrors. And it's hard to comprehend – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost we are, and the speed at which it occurred.

However, it is known that Trump was properly voted in. Following his profoundly alarming first term and even after the warnings linked to the awareness of Project 2025 – following the leader directly stated openly he planned to be a dictator just on day one – a majority of citizens elected him over Kamala Harris.

Frightening as the present situation may be, it’s even scarier to recognize that we have only been several months under this leadership. How will an additional three years of this decline position us? And what if the three years turns into an prolonged era, as there is not anyone to restrain this president from deciding that a third term is essential, possibly for national security reasons?

Granted, not everything is hopeless. We will have legislative votes the coming year that may bring a different balance of power, in case Democrats retake one or both houses of the legislature. There are government representatives who are trying to impose a degree of oversight, for example representatives that are initiating an inquiry regarding the effort to money grab from the justice department.

And a leadership election three years from now could start the path toward restoration just as the previous vote placed us on this unfortunate course.

We see millions of Americans demonstrating in the streets of their cities, as they did last weekend at democracy demonstrations.

Robert Reich, stated lately that “the slumbering force of the nation is awakening”, just as it did post-McCarthyism in the 1950s or amid the Vietnam war protests or in the Nixon controversy.

On those occasions, the listing ship ultimately corrected itself.

He claims he knows the signs of that revival and sees it happening now. For proof, he references the widespread marches, the broad, cross-party resistance regarding a broadcaster's firing and the almost universal rejection by reporters to sign the defense department’s demands they report only what is sanctioned.

“The dormant force perpetually exists inactive before specific greed becomes so noxious, some action so disrespectful of societal benefit, some brutality so loud, that he is compelled other than to stir.”

It's a positive outlook, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll be validated.

In the meantime, the crucial issues persist: will the nation regain its footing? Can it reclaim its standing internationally and its commitment to the rule of law?

Or must we acknowledge that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My negative thoughts suggests that the second option is correct; that everything might be lost. My positive feelings, nevertheless, advises me that we have to attempt, through all methods possible.

For me, working in journalism analysis, that’s about encouraging reporters to commit, more fully, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For others, it may be participating in election efforts, or planning demonstrations, or developing approaches to protect electoral access.

Under twelve months back, we lived in a separate situation. A year from now? Or three years from now? The reality is, we cannot predict. Our sole course is to attempt to not give up.

What Provides Me Optimism Currently

The engagement I experience during teaching with young journalists, who are both hopeful and practical, {always