There was another mass shooting in America this past weekend. This one took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township in Michigan on Sunday 28 September 2025.

I wrote this yesterday. I need to make that clear because there is every possibility that there will have been another mass shooting Stateside between when I write this and when you actually get to read it.

And so, the pro-gun and the anti-gun lobby will begin their merry dance yet again.

The anti-gun lobby will argue, justifiably, that there are too many firearms in the US; that they are to widely available; and that the continued lack of gun control will continue to leave citizens injured and dead.

Gun enthusiasts, backed by the influential National Rifle Association, will assure us all that guns don’t kill people; people kill people. They will point to the US Constitution and the Second Amendment that proclaims their right to bear arms. And they will assure us all that they will surrender their firearms only when we pry their guns from their cold, dead hands.

Unbelievably, there are many in power in the US that will look at mass shootings at the mass shootings at Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy Hook and a multitude of other places and suggest that the solution is – in fact – more guns. For example, they will assure you that the solution to school shootings is armed teachers.

I don’t live in the US and the very notion of guns terrifies me. But suggesting that the solution to gun crime is more guns is surely like suggesting that you tackle a plague of rats by getting more rats.

Now, at this point, you’re probably wondering what all this has to do with demolition and construction. The connection is more obvious than you might think.

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Some years ago, a friend of mine told me about a twin boom excavator he had seen at a construction equipment exhibition in China.

Having first established that this wasn’t a prank of some kind, I went in search of the machine and found that it did, in fact, exist. More than that, there were at least two construction equipment manufacturers that had devised much the same solution.

A solution to what, I hear you ask? Well, both firms said their machines were designed to work in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake or other natural disaster. One of the machine’s twin booms would be fitted with a grab or grapple for holding beams, columns and slabs in place, while the second boom was equipped with a cutting, crushing or pulverising attachment. Working in unison, the two booms could remove large chunks of fallen concrete and steel without causing a further collapse.

At the time, I remember thinking that operating such a machine would be like attempting to pat yourself on the head whilst rubbing your belly in a circular motion. I also dismissed the machine as a novelty with limited appeal outside of quake-prone Asia.

Now, I am not so sure.

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When you’ve been on site long enough, you learn certain things: it’s tough, mistakes have consequences, and sometimes you’ve got to learn quickly. But what you also learn, often silently, is that being shouted at, called out, even humiliated are part of the trade.

It’s woven into the day-to-day. And plenty reckon that this kind of verbal heat is what makes you tough, what pushes you to not screw up again. But does it really motivate more than just being treated with respect, getting encouragement, being shown you matter?

From first-year apprentices up to seasoned workers, there’s this feeling that “you’ve just got to put up with it.” If you mess something up, you expect a bollocking. If you don’t know something, you can expect to be bawled at for it, publicly sometimes.

Some of that is called “banter” or “tough love.” Older workers say, “I was treated like that, so I’ll treat others like that. It builds character.” Plenty of them believe that being able to take it means you’re cut out for this line of work.

But then you hear the other side too. Apprentices saying they dread going to sites because of who they’ll work with. Saying they feel worthless because of being yelled at in front of everyone. Saying they avoid asking questions because they don’t want to look stupid or be insulted. Some believe harsh talk is part of being in this job; others feel it’s grinding them down.

Now let’s look at what studies have pulled out when they ask people off-site, or adults in apprenticeships, “What is this doing to you, really?”

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Are we in a trust recession? A collapse, not of buildings, but of faith — in people, institutions, promises, the very glue that holds any society or industry together?

I would argue that we are.

Look around you: news headlines, social media outrage loops, political theatre. For many, the idea that you can believe what politicians say — that they speak the truth, keep their promises, serve beyond their own interest — is laughable. In Britain today, only a tiny sliver of the public says they trust politicians to tell the truth.

A 2023 survey found that just 27 percent of people say they trust the UK government. Parliament and political parties fare worse: 24 percent and 12 percent respectively. Between 2014 and 2024, the British Election Study observed that the proportion of people with low or no trust in MPs rose from 54 to 76 percent.

Many have lost their trust in the medical profession, a fact that became evident at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of heeding the advice of medical professionals, many people decided that vaccinations were not for them. Even today, some choose to follow the medical advice of a US president who once proposed injecting disinfectant or light to combat disease.

Media is no refuge. The same lens that scrutinises power ends up creating suspicion. Which stories are emphasised, which are omitted, which are framed in such a way that the truth becomes whatever fits a narrative.

In this environment, trust becomes a scarce commodity. You become cynical by necessity: you assume someone is hiding something, spinning something, obscuring the truth. You look for the fault lines. And when your instinct is distrust, you stop expecting the system to deliver.

That’s society at large. But what happens when that rot descends into the business of demolition and construction?

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The alarm clock doesn’t even need to ring anymore. Long before it sounds, the demolition worker is awake, staring at the ceiling, body heavy with exhaustion yet mind restless with yesterday’s problems and today’s challenges.

At 3:45 am, the day begins in darkness. He dresses quietly, trying not to wake his partner or children, and slips out of the house. Long before most of the country is stirring from sleep, he’s already halfway down a motorway, heading toward a site that will demand every ounce of concentration.

This is daily life for countless men and women in demolition and construction.

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