Even the Wealthiest Americans are Losing Faith in Government

Our democracy depends on public trust. It also depends on people believing that they have the power and ability to shape public sector policies and actions. When trust collapses, we get fatalism and hopelessness.

The Los Angeles fires made this painfully clear. With 2.6 million tons of toxic debris to manage, officials waived protections and dumped untested and hazardous ash into ordinary community landfills. Families tried but failed to protect themselves, their children and their neighbors.

Even the wealthiest communities could not stop the toxic dumping. If communities home to celebrities like Will Smith, John Travolta, Justin Bieber and the Kardashians couldn’t protect themselves, what chance do ordinary Americans have? When public trust breaks down, people lose faith that anyone — rich or poor — has real agency. The public sector is supposed to service and protect Americans. So many years later, we are still in the Love Canal era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal

Innovating for the Public Good: R&D for Democracy (IFPG)’s work looks at the underlying dynamics weakening our country. Public trust is one example. IFPG develops and scales new tools that make deep, generational change focused on rebuilding trust in the public sector and realigning our democracy to reflect our shared values and service the needs of the majority, not just the wealthy few.

Learn more about IFPG: https://innovatingforpublicgood.org/

Read NYT’s deep dive into the toxic aftermath of the LA fires: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/magazine/landfill-calabasas-los-angeles-wildfire-ash.html

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