A Devastating Transformation Only 12 Months Has Brought in the US
In late October 2024, the situation was entirely distinct. Prior to the American presidential vote, thoughtful residents could recognize the nation's significant faults – its unfairness and disparity – yet they continued to identify it as the US. A democracy. A land where the rule of law meant something. A country headed by a honorable and decent official, despite his advanced age and declining health.
Nowadays, this autumn, many of us barely recognize the land we inhabit. Persons suspected of being illegal immigrants are rounded up and shoved into transport, at times denied due process. The left side of the presidential residence – is being torn down for an obscene dance hall. Donald Trump is harassing his political rivals or perceived antagonists and insisting the justice department transfer a massive sum of taxpayer money. Uniformed troops are being sent across metropolitan centers on false pretexts. The Pentagon, renamed the War Department, has – in effect – liberated itself of regular press examination as it spends potentially totaling nearly $1tn from citizen taxes. Universities, attorney offices, media outlets are yielding due to presidential intimidation, and wealthy elites are treated like members of the royal family.
“America, shortly prior to its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has fallen over the brink into authoritarianism and totalitarianism,” an American historian, stated in August. “In the end, swifter than I believed likely, it occurred in this country.”
Every morning starts amid recent atrocities. And it's hard to comprehend – and distressing to accept – how deeply lost we have become, and how quickly it unfolded.
However, it is known that the president was duly elected. Following his deeply disturbing initial presidency and despite the alerts linked to the understanding of the conservative plan – even after the leader directly said publicly he would act as an autocrat only on the first day – a majority of citizens selected him over the other candidate.
As terrifying as today's circumstances is, it’s even scarier to recognize that we are just several months under this leadership. How will an additional three years of this downfall find us? And what if that period turns into something even longer, because there is not anyone to limit this leader from deciding that a third term is essential, perhaps for national security reasons?
Certainly, all is not lost. There will be congressional elections in 2026 that could create a new political equilibrium, if Democrats regain either chamber of Congress. There exist public servants who are trying to apply certain responsibility, for example Democratic congressmen who are launching an investigation concerning the try to fund seizure from the justice department.
And a leadership election in the next cycle could start the path to recovery just as the previous vote set us on this regrettable path.
We see countless citizens demonstrating in public spaces of their cities, as they did recently at democracy demonstrations.
A former official, stated lately that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is awakening”, just as it did following the Red Scare in that decade or amid the Vietnam war protests or throughout the seventies crisis.
On those occasions, the unstable nation ultimately corrected itself.
Reich says he understands the signals of that awakening and sees it happening at present. As evidence, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the extensive, cross-party resistance regarding a television host's removal and the near-unanimous refusal by journalists to accept government requirements they solely cover authorized information.
“The sleeping giant consistently stays inactive before specific greed grows too toxic, a particular deed so disrespectful toward public welfare, specific cruelty so noisy, that the giant has no choice other than to stir.”
It’s an optimistic take, and I respect the author's seasoned opinion. Perhaps he will prove to be right.
Meanwhile, the big questions endure: will the nation regain its footing? Can it retrieve its standing in the world and its adherence to legal principles?
Or must we acknowledge that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – swiftly, totally – ended?
My cynical mind suggests that the final scenario is accurate; that everything could be gone. My hopeful heart, however, 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 thoroughly, to their purpose of scrutinizing authority. For others, it might involve engaging with congressional campaigns, or organizing rallies, or discovering methods to protect voting rights.
Less than a year ago, we existed in a separate situation. Twelve months later? Or three years from now? The reality is, we don’t know. Our sole course is to strive to persevere.
What Provides Me Hope Now
The interaction I experience with students with young journalists, that are simultaneously visionary and grounded, {always
