🔗 Share this article

One year ago, the environment was entirely distinct. Before the American presidential vote, thoughtful citizens could admit the country's serious imperfections – its injustices and inequality – but they still could identify it as the United States. A democratic nation. A country where the rule of law held significance. A country led by a dignified and ethical official, notwithstanding his elderly years and declining health.

Nowadays, this autumn, countless Americans scarcely know the nation we reside in. Persons suspected of being undocumented migrants are detained and pushed into vehicles, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the White House – is being torn down for an obscene ballroom. The president is persecuting his political rivals or perceived antagonists and demanding legal authorities hand over a huge total of taxpayer money. Uniformed troops are being sent into American cities with deceptive justifications. The defense headquarters, renamed the War Department, has effectively liberated itself of regular press examination while it uses possibly reaching close to a trillion USD in public funds. Institutions, legal practices, media outlets are submitting under the president’s threats, and wealthy elites are regarded as nobility.

“The US, only a few months ahead of its quarter-millennium anniversary as the globe's top democratic nation, has tipped over the limit toward dictatorship and fascism,” an American historian, commented this past summer. “Finally, swifter than I thought feasible, it occurred here.”

Every morning starts to new horrors. And it's challenging to understand – and distressing to accept – how severely declined we have become, and the speed at which it occurred.

Yet, we know that the leader was legitimately chosen. Even after his profoundly alarming first term and despite the warnings linked to the understanding of the rightwing blueprint – following the leader directly declared plainly he planned to be a dictator just on day one – enough Americans elected him over the other candidate.

While alarming as the current reality is, it’s even scarier to realize that we have only been several months into this presidential term. Where will an additional three years of this decline position us? And if that timeframe turns into something even longer, since there is nobody to restrain this president from determining that a third term is required, maybe for defense purposes?

Certainly, all is not lost. There will be midterm elections the coming year which might bring a different balance of power, should Democrats recapture the Senate or House of Congress. We have public servants who are attempting to exert certain responsibility, like representatives currently initiating an inquiry into the attempted money grab from legal authorities.

And a presidential election in the next cycle could start our journey to recovery exactly as the previous vote put us on this disappointing trajectory.

There exist millions of Americans marching in the streets throughout communities, like they performed recently in the No Kings rallies.

An ex-cabinet member, stated lately that “the dormant powerhouse of the US is stirring”, just as it did after the Communist witch-hunt era during the fifties or during the sixties activism or during the seventies crisis.

In those instances, the listing ship eventually was righted.

Reich says he knows the indicators of that revival and notices it unfolding at present. For proof, he points to the large-scale demonstrations, the widespread, cross-party resistance against a television host's removal and the almost universal defiance by media to agree to military mandates they solely cover what is sanctioned.

“The sleeping giant always remains inactive before certain corruption grows too toxic, some action so contemptuous toward public welfare, certain violence so noisy, that he is forced except to rise.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I value the author's seasoned opinion. Possibly he may be validated.

Meanwhile, the major inquiries remain: will the nation ever recover? Is it possible to restore its position internationally and its devotion to legal principles?

Or do we need to admit that the historical project succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?

My negative thoughts suggests that the second option is correct; that all may indeed be finished. My optimistic spirit, nevertheless, tells me that we have to attempt, by any means available.

In my case, as a media critic, that means urging journalists to commit, more fully, to their mission of overseeing leadership. For some people, it might involve working on congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or finding ways to safeguard electoral access.

Not even one year prior, we were in a separate situation. Twelve months later? Or in several years? The fact is, we are uncertain. The only option is to attempt to continue fighting.

What Provides Me Optimism Currently

The interaction I encounter during teaching with new media professionals, who are equally idealistic and grounded, {always