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In late October 2024, the situation was entirely different. Before the national election, considerate citizens could recognize the nation's deep flaws – its unfairness and imbalance – but they continued to identify it as America. A democracy. A country where constitutional order held significance. A country led by a honorable and decent official, despite his advanced age and growing weakness.

Currently, in late October 2025, countless Americans barely recognize the nation we inhabit. People believed to be undocumented migrants are detained and forced into vans, at times denied due process. The eastern section of the presidential residence – is being torn down to build a lavish ballroom. The leader is persecuting his opponents or supposed enemies and demanding federal prosecutors hand over a massive sum of public funds. Soldiers with weapons are dispatched into American cities on false pretexts. The military command, rebranded the War Department, has effectively freed itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends possibly reaching almost one trillion dollars from citizen taxes. Institutions, attorney offices, news companies are yielding from leader's menaces, and billionaires are handled as aristocracy.

“The US, shortly prior to its quarter-millennium anniversary as the world’s leading democracy, has crossed the brink into authoritarianism and totalitarianism,” an American historian, stated recently. “In the end, more quickly than I thought feasible, it did happen here.”

Each day begins to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how severely declined our nation is, and the speed at which it has happened.

However, we know that Trump was duly elected. Despite his profoundly alarming first term and following the cautions associated with the knowledge of the rightwing blueprint – following Trump himself said publicly he intended to be a dictator just on day one – enough Americans selected him instead of the other candidate.

While alarming as the present situation are, it's more frightening to recognize that we’re only nine months into this administration. Where will three more years of this downfall find us? And what if the three years becomes something even longer, because there is no one to stop this ruler from determining that a third term is required, perhaps for national security reasons?

Granted, all is not lost. We will have congressional elections the coming year that could establish an alternate political equilibrium, in case Democrats retake the Senate or House of the legislature. There exist elected officials who are trying to impose certain responsibility, such as lawmakers that are initiating an inquiry regarding the effort to money grab from legal authorities.

And a leadership election three years from now could initiate the path to recovery exactly as the previous vote put us on this unfortunate course.

There are millions of Americans protesting in public spaces of their cities, similar to recent recently during anti-authority protests.

An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the slumbering force of the US is awakening”, exactly as before following the Red Scare in that decade or amid anti-war demonstrations or in the Watergate scandal.

On those occasions, the listing ship eventually was righted.

He claims he knows the signals of that revival and observes it occurring at present. As evidence, he points to the large-scale demonstrations, the extensive, multi-faction opposition to a broadcaster's firing and the near-unanimous rejection by reporters to accept the defense department’s demands they only publish what is sanctioned.

“The dormant force consistently stays asleep until certain corruption turns extremely harmful, a particular deed so offensive of the common good, some brutality so noisy, that it is compelled other than to stir.”

It's a positive outlook, and I respect his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will prove to be right.

Meanwhile, the crucial issues remain: will the nation return to normalcy? Can it retrieve its status globally and its devotion to constitutional order?

Or must we acknowledge that the historical project worked for a while, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My negative thoughts suggests that the latter is correct; that everything could be finished. My positive feelings, though, advises me that we have to attempt, by any means we can.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that means urging journalists to commit, more fully, to their purpose of holding power to account. For different individuals, it may be participating in congressional campaigns, or coordinating protests, or finding ways to defend voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we existed in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or after another term? The fact is, we are uncertain. Our sole course is to attempt to not give up.

What Offers Me Optimism Currently

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