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Twelve months back, the environment was completely different. Ahead of the US presidential election, considerate Americans could admit America's significant faults – its unfairness and disparity – however they still could see it as the United States. A democratic nation. A country where constitutional order carried weight. A state headed by a honorable and upright leader, notwithstanding his advanced age and increasing frailty.

These days, this autumn, numerous citizens barely recognize the land we inhabit. Individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants are detained and pushed into vans, occasionally blocked from fair treatment. The left side of the White House – is being destroyed for a grotesque dance hall. The president is persecuting his opponents or supposed enemies and requesting legal authorities surrender an enormous amount of public funds. Armed military personnel are dispatched across metropolitan centers on false pretexts. The defense headquarters, renamed the Department of War, has effectively liberated itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny as it spends potentially totaling close to a trillion USD from citizen taxes. Universities, legal practices, journalism organizations are buckling due to presidential intimidation, and billionaires are treated like nobility.

“The US, just months before its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has fallen over the brink into autocracy and totalitarianism,” a noted author, wrote recently. “Ultimately, more quickly than I believed likely, it occurred in this country.”

Every morning starts with fresh terrors. And it is hard to comprehend – and agonizing to acknowledge – how deeply lost we have become, and the rapid pace with which it occurred.

Nevertheless, we know that the president was properly voted in. Despite his deeply disturbing initial presidency and even after the alerts associated with the awareness of the conservative plan – following Trump himself stated openly he would be a dictator solely at the start – enough Americans chose him instead of his Democratic opponent.

As terrifying as the current reality may be, it’s even scarier to realize that we’re only nine months under this leadership. How will another 36 months of this downfall leave us? And what if the three years turns into an prolonged era, because there is no one to limit this ruler from determining that another term is required, possibly for national security reasons?

Admittedly, there is still hope. There will be midterm elections the coming year that could bring a different balance of power, should Democrats regain one or both houses of parliament. There are public servants who are trying to apply certain responsibility, for example representatives that are launching an investigation concerning the try to cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a presidential election three years from now could start our journey to healing precisely as the prior selection set us on this disappointing trajectory.

There are countless citizens marching in urban areas of their cities, as they did last weekend during anti-authority protests.

A former official, wrote recently that “the great sleeping giant of America is stirring”, just as it did following the Red Scare during the fifties or amid the Vietnam war protests or during the Watergate scandal.

During those times, the tilting vessel finally returned to balance.

The author states he recognizes the signs of that resurgence and sees it happening now. For proof, he references the recent massive protests, the widespread, bipartisan pushback against a personality's dismissal and the near-unanimous refusal by journalists to agree to government requirements they solely cover what is sanctioned.

“The dormant force consistently stays inactive until specific greed becomes so noxious, a particular deed so offensive toward public welfare, some brutality so disruptive, that the giant has no choice except to rise.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I value his knowledgeable stance. Perhaps he will turn out correct.

Meanwhile, the major inquiries endure: will the nation ever recover? Can it reclaim its position globally and its devotion to constitutional order?

Or must we acknowledge that the national endeavor succeeded temporarily, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My cynical mind tells me that the final scenario is accurate; that everything could be finished. My optimistic spirit, however, tells me that we must try, through all methods possible.

In my case, as a media critic, that’s about pushing media professionals to live up, more thoroughly, to their purpose of holding power to account. For others, it might involve participating in political races, or coordinating protests, or discovering methods to protect ballot privileges.

Less than a year ago, we lived in a very different place. Twelve months later? Or after another term? The reality is, we are uncertain. All we can do is try to continue fighting.

What Offers Me Encouragement Today

The interaction I experience during teaching with aspiring reporters, who are both visionary and realistic, {always