A Crisis of Confidence

“A society that loses trust in its referees eventually stops playing the game.”

I don’t think the biggest problem in our country right now is the left or the right.

It’s not even about who’s right or who’s wrong.

And I don’t think it’s simply about who’s telling the truth and who isn’t.

The real problem—the one sitting underneath all of it—is a growing lack of confidence. Not confidence in politicians. Not confidence in media. Not confidence in institutions. Confidence in anything.

We live in a time where many of us aren’t fully sure what the truth is anymore—and worse, we’re not sure how we’d recognize it if we saw it.

That’s not a political crisis.

That’s a confidence crisis.

For most of my life, there were disagreements—sometimes serious ones—but there was still a shared belief that facts existed. That reality was real. That someone, somewhere, was at least trying to get it right.

Today, every story has a counter-story. Every fact comes with an angle. Every expert has a motive assigned to them. Events are instantly framed, clipped, shared, and turned into fuel.

So people pull back—not because they don’t care, but because they’re exhausted.

When you stop trusting the referee, eventually you stop watching the game.

And that loss of trust shows up even in places that once felt safe and simple. When we later discover that a sports game was “fixed,” or outcomes were manipulated, it doesn’t just disappoint fans—it reinforces the feeling that nothing is clean anymore, that even the things meant to unite us can’t be taken at face value.

This gets worse when the loudest voices are also the least careful. Some media outlets lean so hard into narrative that balance gets lost. At the same time, click-driven conspiracy content thrives on confusion, not clarity. Both sides benefit from attention, and attention usually comes from outrage.

Meanwhile, regular people are left asking a simple question:

Who do I trust?

And more and more, the answer is: no one.

Now add one more layer to all of this—AI-created content.

For the first time, we can’t automatically trust what we see anymore.

A video shows up online and the first question isn’t “What happened?”

It’s “Is this real?”

That alone changes everything.

Voices can be recreated. Faces can be generated. Moments can be assembled. Something that never happened can look convincing enough to shape opinions before anyone pauses to ask questions.

When reality itself becomes editable, confidence erodes even further.

And without confidence, disagreement turns into suspicion. Conversation turns into labeling. Trust breaks down—not just in institutions, but in each other.

This isn’t about picking sides. It’s about recognizing that a society without shared confidence can’t function well. Democracy, relationships, and even honest debate depend on trust.

Confidence doesn’t come from certainty.

It comes from credibility.

And maybe—just maybe—this moment forces people to refocus on what actually matters. On God. On family. On the small circle of friends who truly know you and stand with you when the noise fades.

Not left.

Not right.

Just a country trying to figure out what’s real—and remembering what’s worth holding onto.