The Heartbreaking Transformation a Single Year Has Made in America
One year ago, the environment was utterly distinct. Ahead of the American presidential vote, thoughtful Americans could recognize the country's deep flaws – its unfairness and imbalance – but they still could see it as America. A democracy. A country where the rule of law carried weight. A nation guided by a honorable and ethical public servant, despite his advanced age and increasing frailty.
Currently, this autumn, countless Americans barely recognize the country we live in. People suspected of being unauthorized foreigners are rounded up and pushed into vans, sometimes denied due process. The East Wing of the White House – is being destroyed to build a lavish event space. The president is harassing his adversaries or perceived antagonists and demanding the justice department surrender an enormous amount of public funds. Soldiers with weapons are dispatched into American cities on false pretexts. The Pentagon, rebranded the Department of War, has practically freed itself of routine media oversight while it uses what could amount to almost one trillion dollars from citizen taxes. Colleges, attorney offices, media outlets are submitting due to presidential intimidation, and wealthy elites are handled as nobility.
“The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has crossed the limit toward dictatorship and fascism,” a noted author, commented in August. “In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen in this country.”
One awakes with fresh terrors. And it is challenging to understand – and painful to realize – how deeply lost we are, and how quickly it has happened.
Yet, we understand that Trump was legitimately chosen. Despite his profoundly alarming previous administration and following the warnings that came with the awareness of the rightwing blueprint – following Trump himself said publicly he planned to rule as a tyrant just on day one – sufficient voters elected him instead of his Democratic opponent.
As terrifying as the present situation are, it's more frightening to understand that we have only been several months under this leadership. What will an additional three years of this downfall leave us? And if that period transforms into an prolonged era, since there is nobody to restrain this leader from determining that additional tenure is necessary, maybe for defense purposes?
Certainly, all is not lost. There are congressional elections the coming year which might create a new balance of power, in case Democrats regain one or both houses of parliament. There are government representatives who are striving to impose certain responsibility, such as representatives who are initiating an inquiry concerning the try to money grab from the justice department.
And a presidential election in the next cycle could start the path toward restoration precisely as the previous vote placed us on this unfortunate course.
There are countless citizens protesting in the streets across municipalities, as they did recently in the No Kings rallies.
An ex-cabinet member, commented this week that “the dormant powerhouse of the nation is stirring”, just as it did following the Red Scare in that decade or during anti-war demonstrations or during the Nixon controversy.
During those times, the tilting vessel finally returned to balance.
He claims he knows the signals of that resurgence and observes it occurring at present. As evidence, he cites the recent massive protests, the widespread, bipartisan pushback to a television host's removal and the almost universal rejection by reporters to agree to the defense department’s demands they solely cover approved content.
“The dormant force consistently stays inactive before specific greed becomes so noxious, an specific act so disrespectful of the common good, some brutality so disruptive, that it is compelled other than to stir.”
It's a positive outlook, and I appreciate his knowledgeable stance. Possibly he may turn out correct.
At the same time, the big questions persist: will the nation regain its footing? Can it retrieve its status in the world and its devotion to legal principles?
Or must we acknowledge that the 250-year-old experiment succeeded temporarily, and then – abruptly, completely – collapsed?
My pessimistic brain indicates that the second option is accurate; that everything might be gone. My positive feelings, nevertheless, tells me that we must try, in whatever ways possible.
In my case, as a media critic, that means encouraging reporters to commit, more fully, to their mission of holding power to account. For some people, it could mean participating in congressional campaigns, or organizing rallies, or developing approaches to safeguard ballot privileges.
Under twelve months back, we existed in an alternate reality. A year from now? Or in several years? The fact is, we are uncertain. The only option is to attempt to continue fighting.
What’s Giving Me Hope Now
The contact I experience with students with new media professionals, that are simultaneously hopeful and grounded, {always
