In 2025 we saw the unfolding of a decades-long plan to reshape America. For some, namely the crafters of Project 2025, this was a moment to implement the policies that best represented their values and to establish the America of their dreams. For others, 2025 was far from a dream. It was a rude awakening, with many lingering questions about who belongs in America and who should benefit from its bounty.
The writers and supporters of Project 2025 had years to develop this multi-pronged “America First” plan – rolling back DEI, dismantling the Department of Education, limiting immigration and enacting mass deportations and detainments.
One of my biggest takeaways from 2025 was just how fragile the infrastructure is that undergirds America. Some of our most necessary systems were already broken, such as health care, housing and education. The upending of these sectors illuminated the weak spots that had been there for years.
Are we solving the right problems?
We experienced one of the most extended government shutdowns in history. As Democrats held out for more sustainable terms for health care subsidies, I couldn’t help but to think that we may be missing a solution because we haven’t been asking the right questions. Why do we need subsidies anyway?
The disruption of SNAP benefits in the latter part of 2025 showed the vast disparities between Americans. Many believed that some folks were hungry because they just weren’t working hard enough. Others knew too well that many Americans are working full-time and not earning enough money to feed themselves or their families. Again, I wonder if we’re even asking the right question.
Instead of asking the government why they would take away benefits from hardworking Americans, can we start asking why these hardworking Americans aren’t earning a living wage? Why would people who are working 40 or more hours per week, living in one of the richest nations in the world, need government assistance to eat?
This year we saw the questioning of museum exhibits and cultural institutions that did not align with the “America First” ideology. Even the Smithsonian was under investigation, being accused of “revisionist history.” But, the question we ought to ask is why accurate American history was not taught from the beginning.
Are we headed toward autocracy?
Stacey Abrams, an attorney, voting rights activist, and a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, shared the playbook for authoritarianism. Abrams is on a nationwide campaign to “resist and reverse” this from occurring.
The U.S. is not immune to succumbing to this playbook, as many other countries have done over time.
Here are the 10 steps to autocracy and authoritarianism according to Abrams.
- Win the last fair election.
- Expand executive power.
- Capture the other branches.
- Gut the government.
- Install loyalists.
- Attack the media.
- Scapegoat vulnerable communities.
- Destroy support systems.
- Normalize violence.
- End democracy itself.
Some would argue that America has already exhibited all 10 steps, though perhaps in varying degrees. The country may be farther along in attacking the media and further behind in normalizing violence, depending on who you ask and which side of the violence you’re on.
Whether the last fair election already happened in 2024 is yet to be seen. We won’t know that answer until the next presidential election takes place. However, the intense efforts toward mid-decade redistricting across the country are a pretty strong argument for a lack of fairness in other political seats.
Trump and some of his supporters have already indicated intentions toward a third presidential term, even as the Constitution does not currently uphold that possibility. But if the “last fair election” was in fact the last fair election, it will already be too late to turn back.
2025 also taught us about the power of the Oval Office. We learned that 1) the president has a lot more power than we thought and 2) checks and balances only work if you work them.
If we’ve learned nothing else this year, we have learned that we cannot take for granted the institutions that collectively form America. And we are all responsible for upholding the America we envision.
Camike Jones is the Editor-in-Chief of the Indianapolis Recorder. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Jones has a lifelong commitment to advocacy and telling stories that represent the community.
