How the "wallet test" shows our need for a social safety net

Yahoo

26-03-2025

'The most important decision we make,' a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein, 'is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.'
This isn't just philosophical musing. According to the 2025 World Happiness Report, this belief might be one of the most politically urgent questions of our time — because when we stop trusting each other, democracy begins to unravel.
A few years ago, I found a wallet in the back of a New York City cab. Cash, credit cards, and doctor's office cards — it would have been easy to leave it with the driver or at a random lost and found. Instead, I spent the entire morning tracking down the owner by calling a number from a medical card inside. Eventually, her doctor's office connected us. When she called me, she was stunned that someone had gone to such lengths to return it.
As I shared this story, a coworker told me someone returned her wallet a full week after she'd lost it. And there's more: I once dropped my driver's license — far more valuable to me than any wallet — on Canal Street, an area known more for knockoff handbags than random kindness. A month later, it appeared in my mailbox without a note or explanation — just proof someone cared enough to return it.
These stories aren't rare. The World Happiness Report cites a global experiment — originally published in Science — where researchers 'lost' wallets to see if people would return them. Most people assumed the wallets wouldn't come back, especially if they contained cash. But the opposite happened: wallets with money were returned far more often than expected — in many cases, even more than those without cash.
We're living through a time of deep political unrest, with populist movements, democratic backsliding, and extremism rising worldwide. The common thread? Mistrust.
The World Happiness Report clearly shows that life satisfaction correlates more strongly with trust than income, employment or education. It's not just about what we have — it's about our beliefs regarding the people around us. Often, we focus on distrust in institutions like government, media and science, but maybe the deeper issue is our distrust of each other.
The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals a global crisis of mistrust —across governments, media and even the innovation shaping our future. In the U.S., that mistrust has become deeply polarized, with a 22-point gap in trust in innovation between Democrats and Republicans. But this divide didn't emerge on its own — it's been strategically amplified by leaders, media outlets, and digital platforms that thrive on division and outrage. When mistrust is left to grow, it doesn't just erode our faith in institutions — it turns us against one another. We stop engaging with people who think differently and we stop collaborating.
Despite the growing mistrust, national polling might tell a different story.
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid enjoy broad bipartisan support from 79% of Americans — including 88% of Democrats, 78% of independents, and 70% of Republicans. Additionally, 77% oppose pausing infectious disease research, and 68% oppose revoking FDA approval for childhood vaccines.
Even private insurance companies face similar levels of mistrust from both Democrats and Republicans, despite differing views on health care solutions. And 72% of both Republicans and Democrats support increased federal spending on veterans' benefits.Beyond policy, a 2023 poll by The McCourtney Institute for Democracy found that a strong majority of Americans prefer democracy over other forms of government, challenging the myth of a hopelessly divided nation.
Taken together, this data suggests that beneath the surface-level noise, Republicans and Democrats still place trust in some of the social programs that support us all — and in democracy itself. It also raises a deeper question: if we still believe in some of the same foundational values, shouldn't we begin to trust each other a little more — and work together to preserve them?
A long-term budget resolution passed by the House in February 2025 includes deep proposed cuts to essential social programs — cuts that would affect millions of Americans, regardless of political affiliation. These cuts include substantial reductions to Medicaid, endangering health care for mothers, infants and vulnerable families. Social Security offices are closing in the name of 'efficiency,' making it harder for older adults to access critical services. Veterans' benefits are on the chopping block, with job losses at the Department of Veterans Affairs and reduced dividends from VA-managed life insurance policies.
At the same time, despite broad public support, we've seen no meaningful progress on gun safety legislation or affordable prescription drug reforms for seniors. Insurance companies continue to deny medically necessary treatments without consequence — and there's still no bipartisan legislation requiring them to pay for the care people need.
You might be frustrated that your neighbor disagrees with your political views — or even angry about how they vote. But here's the reality: unless we come together, the social programs that benefit all of us — programs supported by the majority of Republicans and Democrats — are at risk.
Maybe the problem isn't just political division. Maybe we're speaking through politicians and pundits instead of to each other. What if we rethought our approach? We don't have to agree on everything to stand for something essential. Democracy isn't just a political system—it's a relationship we build with one another. And maybe, just maybe, we've forgotten that most of us would return each other's wallets with the cash still inside.
Trusting each other again on some level could be what saves our country—and the essential social programs that reflect our shared care for one another.