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Twelve months back, the landscape was entirely different. Before the American presidential vote, reflective Americans could recognize the nation's serious imperfections – its unfairness and inequality – but they still could perceive it as the United States. A free society. A land where constitutional order held significance. A nation headed by a honorable and decent public servant, even with his elderly years and declining health.

Nowadays, this autumn, many of us hardly identify the country we inhabit. Individuals alleged as undocumented migrants are rounded up and forced into vehicles, sometimes refused legal rights. The eastern section of the presidential residence – is undergoing demolition to build a lavish dance hall. The leader is harassing his political rivals or alleged foes and requesting federal prosecutors hand over a huge total of citizen dollars. Soldiers with weapons are being sent into American cities on false pretexts. The Pentagon, relabeled the Department of War, has effectively freed itself of day-to-day journalistic scrutiny during its expenditure of potentially totaling close to a trillion USD of taxpayer money. Colleges, law firms, news companies are submitting under the president’s threats, and rich magnates are regarded as members of the royal family.

“The United States, shortly prior to its quarter-millennium anniversary as the planet's foremost free society, has fallen over the limit into autocracy and extremism,” Garrett Graff, wrote in August. “Finally, swifter than I believed likely, it did happen here.”

Each day begins to new horrors. It is hard to comprehend – and painful to realize – just how far gone we have become, and the rapid pace with which it has happened.

Yet, it is known that Trump was legitimately chosen. Following his deeply disturbing initial presidency and despite the cautions associated with the knowledge of the rightwing blueprint – even after the leader directly declared plainly he planned to act as an autocrat just on day one – enough Americans elected him over the other candidate.

As terrifying as today's circumstances may be, it's more frightening to understand that we’re only nine months into this administration. How will an additional three years of this deterioration leave us? And what if that timeframe transforms into something even longer, since there is nobody to stop this leader from deciding that a third term is required, perhaps for defense purposes?

Admittedly, there is still hope. There will be legislative votes next year that could create a new political equilibrium, if Democrats recapture the Senate or House of parliament. There exist government representatives who are striving to apply certain responsibility, like lawmakers that are starting a probe into the attempted cash appropriation by federal prosecutors.

And a presidential election three years from now could start us down the road to healing just as the prior selection put us on this regrettable path.

We see numerous residents marching in the streets across municipalities, as they did in the past days at democracy demonstrations.

A former official, wrote recently that “the slumbering force of the nation is awakening”, just as it did following the Red Scare in the 1950s or throughout the Vietnam war protests or in the Watergate scandal.

In those instances, the unstable nation ultimately corrected itself.

The author states he recognizes the signals of that revival and sees it happening at present. As support, he references the large-scale demonstrations, the extensive, multi-faction opposition to a personality's dismissal and the almost universal rejection by reporters to agree to military mandates they only publish authorized information.

“The sleeping giant perpetually exists inactive until specific greed grows too toxic, a particular deed so offensive of societal benefit, specific cruelty so loud, that the giant is forced but to awaken.”

It’s an optimistic take, and I appreciate Reich’s experienced view. Possibly he may be validated.

In the meantime, the major inquiries persist: will the nation ever recover? Is it possible to restore its standing internationally and its devotion to constitutional order?

Or must we acknowledge that the historical project worked for a while, and then – suddenly, utterly – failed?

My cynical mind indicates that the latter is accurate; that all may indeed be gone. My positive feelings, however, advises me that we have to attempt, in whatever ways possible.

For me, as an observer of the press, that’s about urging journalists to commit, more fully, to their duty of overseeing leadership. For others, it might involve working on congressional campaigns, or planning demonstrations, or discovering methods to protect ballot privileges.

Less than a year ago, we existed in an alternate reality. In the future? Or three years from now? The truth is, we don’t know. All we can do is to strive to not give up.

What Provides Me Hope Now

The contact I encounter with students with new media professionals, that are simultaneously hopeful and grounded, {always