lack of faith in a solvent future means smash and grab in the present. you want to know why populism, debt write-offs, bonus checks, etc are suddenly so popular? it may not be that we’re losing rationality but rather because the young are finding it. they no longer believe the upper left quadrant is possible. perhaps they are right. if you see low-trust behavior and yourself getting plundered, it’s 100% rational and arguably even moral to say “to hell with this system. i see no benefit to cooperating with it. it’s stacked against me.” in essence, they are saying “you will not keep your contract with me, why should i honor it with you?” if you want us to play in your system, you must convince me that this system serves my future and not just yours. this makes a loss of faith in societal solvency into societal solvent.