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In late October 2024, the landscape was utterly distinct. Before the national election, reflective Americans could acknowledge the nation's significant faults – its inequities and inequality – but they continued to perceive it as America. A democratic nation. A land where constitutional order carried weight. A country led by a respectable and upright official, despite his advanced age and declining health.

These days, this autumn, countless Americans barely recognize the nation we live in. People believed to be illegal immigrants are collected and forced into vehicles, at times blocked from fair treatment. The East Wing of the presidential residence – is being torn down to build a lavish event space. The president is persecuting his political rivals or perceived antagonists and demanding legal authorities surrender a massive sum of taxpayer money. Soldiers with weapons are deployed into American cities on false pretexts. The defense headquarters, rebranded the Department of War, has effectively rid itself of regular press examination while it uses potentially totaling almost one trillion dollars in public funds. Colleges, attorney offices, journalism organizations are buckling under the president’s threats, and wealthy elites are handled as nobility.

“The US, only a few months ahead of its quarter-millennium anniversary as the world’s leading democracy, has fallen over the edge toward dictatorship and extremism,” an American historian, wrote recently. “Finally, more quickly than I believed likely, it did happen here.”

One awakes to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we are, and the rapid pace with which it occurred.

Nevertheless, it is known that the president was legitimately chosen. Despite his deeply disturbing first term and despite the cautions associated with the knowledge of Project 2025 – despite the leader directly said publicly he planned to act as an autocrat only on the first day – enough Americans elected him over Kamala Harris.

Frightening as the current reality is, it's more daunting to realize that we have only been nine months into this presidential term. How will another 36 months of this downfall position us? And what if the three years transforms into a more extended duration, because there is no one to stop this ruler from opting that another term is necessary, perhaps for security concerns?

Admittedly, there is still hope. There are congressional elections next year that could bring a different governmental control, in case Democrats regain one or both houses of parliament. We have public servants who are attempting to impose some accountability, for example representatives currently launching an investigation regarding the effort to fund seizure from legal authorities.

And a leadership election three years from now could initiate us down the road to recovery exactly as last year’s election put us on this disappointing trajectory.

There are numerous residents marching in the streets across municipalities, similar to recent recently at democracy demonstrations.

Robert Reich, wrote recently that “the slumbering force of the nation is stirring”, just as it did after the Communist witch-hunt era in the 1950s or during the Vietnam war protests or throughout the seventies crisis.

On those occasions, the listing ship finally returned to balance.

The author states he understands the signals of that awakening and observes it occurring at present. As evidence, he points to the large-scale demonstrations, the broad, bipartisan pushback against a television host's removal and the largely united refusal by journalists to sign military mandates they only publish authorized information.

“The slumbering entity consistently stays dormant till certain corruption becomes so noxious, a particular deed so contemptuous of societal benefit, certain violence so disruptive, that he has no choice but to awaken.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I value his knowledgeable stance. Maybe he’ll be validated.

Meanwhile, the major inquiries persist: can America regain its footing? Can it reclaim its standing in the world and its adherence to constitutional order?

Or do we need to admit that the national endeavor functioned for a period, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?

My pessimistic brain indicates that the latter is true; that everything might be lost. My positive feelings, though, tells me that we need to strive, through all methods possible.

In my case, working in journalism analysis, that’s about encouraging reporters to commit, more completely, to their duty of scrutinizing authority. For some people, it might involve participating in political races, or organizing rallies, or discovering methods to safeguard voting rights.

Not even one year prior, we lived in an alternate reality. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The truth is, we don’t know. Our sole course is to attempt to continue fighting.

What Offers Me Hope Now

The contact I encounter in the classroom with aspiring reporters, who are both hopeful and practical, {always