THE CRISIS OF GRIEVANCE. HOW GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS AND THE RICH BECAME SOCIAL ENEMIES OR SOCIAL FEARS CAN MORPH INTO RESENTMENT
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Authors:
• Radu GHEORGHE, email: radu.gheorghe@univath.ro, Afiliation: Athenaeum University, Bucharest, RomaniaPages:
• 9|18 -
Keywords: competence, economic growth, economic fears, ethical behavior, fragmentation of trust, institutional distrust, moderate unemployment, polarisation, resentment, social fears
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Abstract:
The Edelman Trust Barometer signaled at the beginning of 2020 the development of a huge sense of institutional distrust, a feeling amplified by the perception of the unprecedented proliferation of social inequities and inequalities. Most citizens, especially in the most developed countries, have sent an unequivocal message: not only do social inequalities give rise to great concerns, but the invalidation of the belief that sustained work leads to social advancement makes the hope for a better future unrealistic, even in conditions of economic growth or moderate unemployment. Shaped also by an unprecedented fragmentation of trust, the new paradigmatic landscape invited at the beginning of 2020 to intransigence regarding the way that trust should be granted, namely taking into account the respect of at least two criteria: competence (the ability to fulfill promises made) and ethical behavior (the ability to act correctly, contributing to changing society for the better). After only five years, at the beginning of 2025, the Edelman Trust Barometer signals not only the preservation of the same construct regarding the crisis of institutional trust among citizens. Moreover, the belief that both the government and business people serve the interests of the rich, to the detriment of ordinary people, seems to have taken root in public perception. It is a perception that, however, fuels a high level of resentment towards the government, the business environment and wealthy individuals, and which develops an essential question: Could it be a signal that in recent years society has traveled a path from fears to polarization, and now to resentment? Moreover, have the economic fears of the early 2020s already transformed into resentment within just five years?
