A Devastating Change a Single Year Has Brought in America
One year ago, the situation was utterly separate. Ahead of the American presidential vote, considerate citizens could acknowledge the nation's serious imperfections – its injustices and disparity – however they continued to perceive it as America. A democracy. A place where legal governance held significance. A country guided by a respectable and upright leader, despite his elderly years and declining health.
Currently, this autumn, countless Americans hardly identify the country we inhabit. People suspected of being undocumented migrants are collected and forced into vans, at times refused legal rights. The left side of the presidential residence – is undergoing demolition for an obscene ballroom. The president is harassing his adversaries or perceived antagonists and requesting federal prosecutors surrender a massive sum of public funds. Uniformed troops are deployed across metropolitan centers on false pretexts. The Pentagon, renamed the Department of War, has – in effect – liberated itself of routine media oversight as it spends what could amount to nearly $1tn in public funds. Colleges, attorney offices, media outlets are yielding under the president’s threats, and rich magnates are regarded as members of the royal family.
“America, just months before its 250th birthday as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the edge into autocracy and fascism,” a noted author, wrote this past summer. “Ultimately, faster than I believed likely, it transpired here.”
One awakes amid recent atrocities. And it is difficult to grasp – and agonizing to acknowledge – how deeply lost we are, and the rapid pace with which it occurred.
Yet, we know that the president was properly voted in. Despite his deeply disturbing first term and despite the warnings that came with the knowledge of the conservative plan – following the president personally said publicly he planned to act as an autocrat solely at the start – a majority of citizens chose him over Kamala Harris.
As terrifying as today's circumstances is, it's more frightening to understand that we’re only nine months into this administration. How will three more years of this downfall leave us? And suppose that period turns into a more extended duration, because there is no one to stop this president from deciding that another term is necessary, perhaps for national security reasons?
Certainly, not everything is hopeless. There are legislative votes in 2026 which might establish an alternate political equilibrium, should Democrats retake either chamber of parliament. There are public servants who are attempting to apply a degree of oversight, for example representatives that are initiating an inquiry regarding the effort to fund seizure by federal prosecutors.
And a leadership election in the next cycle could initiate our journey toward restoration exactly as the previous vote set us on this disappointing trajectory.
There exist countless citizens protesting in urban areas throughout communities, like they performed in the past days during anti-authority protests.
An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is awakening”, similar to past post-McCarthyism in that decade or amid anti-war demonstrations or throughout the seventies crisis.
In those instances, the unstable nation ultimately corrected itself.
He claims he knows the indicators of that resurgence and notices it unfolding now. As evidence, he points to the recent massive protests, the widespread, cross-party resistance to a broadcaster's firing and the near-unanimous defiance by media to sign the defense department’s demands they solely cover approved content.
“The sleeping giant consistently stays dormant before specific greed becomes so noxious, some action so contemptuous of societal benefit, some brutality so noisy, that the giant has no choice other than to stir.”
It's a hopeful perspective, and I value Reich’s experienced view. Perhaps he will turn out correct.
At the same time, the crucial issues endure: is the US able to ever recover? Is it possible to restore its standing in the world and its commitment to the rule of law?
Or should we recognize that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?
My pessimistic brain tells me that the second option is true; that everything might be gone. My positive feelings, though, advises me that we need to strive, in whatever ways possible.
For me, working in journalism analysis, that means urging journalists to commit, more completely, to their duty of scrutinizing authority. For some people, it might involve participating in political races, or coordinating protests, or developing approaches to safeguard electoral access.
Not even one year prior, we lived in a separate situation. A year from now? Or after another term? The fact is, we cannot predict. The only option is try to persevere.
What’s Giving Me Encouragement Today
The contact I have with students with new media professionals, who are both idealistic and practical, {always