There's something deeply unsettling about living in an age where we have more access to information than ever before, yet we trust less those who provide it. Where the institutions that promised to protect us feel more distant than the stars. Where six out of ten people walk through the world carrying a silent resentment against the system around them.
But here's the uncomfortable question no one dares to ask: What if we are part of the problem?
The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, which surveyed over 33,000 people across 28 countries, reveals that 61% of people harbor a moderate to high sense of grievance toward the system. It's easy to point outward: corrupt politicians, greedy corporations, the wealthy who don't pay their fair share. But Socrates taught us something more radical in his dialogues: real change begins with self-knowledge. "Know thyself" wasn't an invitation to navel-gazing, but a call to personal responsibility.
When you harbor grievance, your brain rewires reality: people with high grievance are twice as likely to believe that what helps others with different political beliefs comes at their own expense. The world becomes a zero-sum game. And here's what's dangerous: 4 in 10 people approve of hostile activism—including intentional disinformation, threats of violence, and online attacks—as legitimate means to drive change. It's the philosophy of the ends justifying the means, and we know how that story ends.
Aristotle warned that when we lose our sense of the common good, civic virtue disintegrates. But he also gave us the solution: we are who we choose to be through our repeated actions. Trust isn't something "they" must give us; it's something you build every day.
How? Start where you have real influence: your work team, your community, your family. The study shows that when institutional trust increases, only 8% maintain high levels of grievance, while 86% develop personal economic optimism. You don't need to be a CEO to create that effect. You need integrity in your conversations, empathy with those who think differently, commitment to truth over comfort.
Leonardo Polo insisted that the human person exists in relationship, in mutual gift-giving. We're not passive victims of the system; we're co-creators of the culture we inhabit. Every time you choose transparency over opacity, collaboration over toxic competition, listening over hasty judgment, you're rebuilding the social fabric.
The most radical truth from the study is this: businesses are seen as the most trustworthy institution when they demonstrate being both competent and ethical, but that perception is built person by person, decision by decision.
"Trust isn't declared; it's built day by day, decision after decision, truth after truth."
Your exercise today: Identify a difficult conversation you've been avoiding at work or in your family. One where you chose comfortable silence over uncomfortable truth. This week, have that conversation with honesty and compassion. Not to be right, but to rebuild trust. Because all systemic change begins with one person who decides to act differently. Will that be you?