Undermining trust in institutions. Prior to the truth of the Vietnam war coming out, ordinary Americans tended to gave the benefit of the doubt to the governme

Undermining trust in institutions. Prior to the truth of the Vietnam war coming out, ordinary Americans tended to gave the benefit of the doubt to the government. They lost the baby boomer’s trust with Vietnam. Bush 43’s Iraq war did the same to Gen X. For Millenial Americans it was the government’s ruinous response to the 2008 financial crisis. Then the COVID debacle happened. Fast forward to the present moment where the vast majority of Americans have never seen functional institutions in their or their parent’s or grandparent’s lifetime. A shockingly high percentage of gen z colleagues I speak with see government institutions, the American government itself, healthcare, tech, banking, capitalism, etc to be a giant scam. They believe they’re on their own and cannot count on society in any way for support. They feel like they’re alone in the woods. I think it contributes to their anxiety.