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Twelve months back, the situation was completely different. Before the national election, reflective residents could acknowledge the country's serious imperfections – its unfairness and inequality – however they still could see it as America. A free society. A land where the rule of law carried weight. A country led by a respectable and ethical public servant, despite his elderly years and increasing frailty.

Nowadays, this autumn, countless Americans hardly identify the nation we reside in. People alleged as unauthorized foreigners are detained and shoved into vehicles, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the presidential residence – is being torn down for a grotesque ballroom. Donald Trump is persecuting his political rivals or perceived antagonists and requesting the justice department surrender a huge total of public funds. Uniformed troops are deployed across metropolitan centers with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, relabeled the Defense Ministry, has practically liberated itself of routine media oversight while it uses what could amount to nearly $1tn of taxpayer money. Universities, attorney offices, news companies are buckling from leader's menaces, and rich magnates are handled as members of the royal family.

“The US, only a few months ahead of its 250-year mark as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the brink into authoritarianism and extremism,” Garrett Graff, wrote in August. “Finally, faster than I believed likely, it did happen in this country.”

Each day begins with fresh terrors. And it is challenging to understand – and painful to realize – just how far gone we are, and the speed at which it has happened.

However, we know that the president was properly voted in. Despite his deeply disturbing initial presidency and despite the warnings linked to the understanding of Project 2025 – following the president personally said publicly he intended to act as an autocrat solely at the start – a majority of citizens elected him rather than Kamala Harris.

As terrifying as the present situation are, it’s even scarier to realize that we are just several months under this leadership. How will another 36 months of this deterioration find us? And what if the three years turns into a more extended duration, as there is not anyone to stop this leader from deciding that a third term is necessary, possibly for security concerns?

Certainly, not everything is hopeless. There will be legislative votes next year that could bring a different balance of power, should Democrats retake the Senate or House of parliament. There are elected officials who are trying to apply a degree of oversight, like lawmakers currently starting a probe regarding the effort to fund seizure from legal authorities.

And a presidential election in 2028 could begin our journey to recovery exactly as last year’s election set us on this regrettable path.

We see millions of Americans marching in urban areas of their cities, similar to recent last weekend in the No Kings rallies.

An ex-cabinet member, stated lately that “the great sleeping giant of America is rising”, exactly as before after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or throughout anti-war demonstrations or during the seventies crisis.

During those times, the tilting vessel eventually was righted.

He claims he recognizes the signals of that revival and sees it happening now. As evidence, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the widespread, multi-faction opposition regarding a personality's dismissal and the almost universal defiance by media to accept government requirements they report only what is sanctioned.

“The sleeping giant consistently stays dormant until certain corruption grows too toxic, an specific act so offensive of societal benefit, specific cruelty so disruptive, that it is compelled other than to stir.”

It's a hopeful perspective, and I respect the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may turn out correct.

In the meantime, the big questions remain: is the US able to ever recover? Is it possible to restore its standing in the world and its devotion to legal principles?

Or should we recognize that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My pessimistic brain suggests that the final scenario is accurate; that everything might be finished. My hopeful heart, though, tells me that we must try, by any means we can.

For me, as a media critic, that’s about pushing media professionals to live up, more fully, to their mission of holding power to account. For some people, it could mean working on election efforts, or organizing rallies, or finding ways to protect electoral access.

Not even one year prior, we were in a very different place. In the future? Or three years from now? The reality is, we don’t know. Our sole course is try to continue fighting.

What Offers Me Encouragement Today

The interaction I encounter during teaching with young journalists, who are equally visionary and practical, {always