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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