We were raised in the middle of a political hurricane.

Our childhoods came with breaking news alerts: lockdowns, impeachments, mass shootings, a pandemic and presidents tweeting threats in real time. We never saw the so-called “good old days.” We learned early that politics wasn’t some distant, dignified machine — it was messy, volatile and often cruel.

So it’s no surprise that trust is in freefall. Only 22% of Americans believe the federal government will do the right thing most of the time, according to the Pew Research Center . Among young people, it’s even worse.

Americans trust one another more than we trust the people running our country. About 74% of us believe in our peers and neighbors, according to the Pew , but just 37% trust Congress. Political parties? Still waiting.

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