America is wealthier than ever. Individual net worths have continued to grow, as has our country’s GDP, all while the unemployment rate remains low.
And yet, in regular polling, we seem increasingly lost – describing our lives and our country in terms of exhaustion, instability and distrust. And this problem doesn’t have one singular cause. It is not the product of a single malady, waiting to be healed. It is the result of multiple issues banding together to create an environment of distrust and anxiety, especially amongst younger populations.
Prosperity versus Precarity
Americans feel unstable. Whether it’s true or not, whether it’s valid or not, the feeling is undeniable. We may feel comfortable in our financial state, but sure enough, the latest economic report on the 6PM news makes us think differently. Even with record growth, we can’t help but feel lost.
Unhappy: The U.S. has fallen to our lowest ever ranking in the World Happiness Report. And as writer Derek Thompson pointed out, this is largely a result of the answers of young Americans, who reported a decline in their well-being. While they aren’t the only ones facing this general across-the-board unhappiness, Thompson notes, the multiple maladies of the 2020s has hit younger groups particularly hard – social media growth, a pandemic and an ever-growing culture of individualism are just a few examples of issues plaguing all Americans.
Which is to say nothing of the job market thing, an issue often top-of-mind for all Americans, but mainly younger individuals looking to establish themselves. Gallup reports only 43% of Americans aged 15 to 34 think it is a good time to find a job in the city where they reside. Whether the job market statistics agree with that or not, there is at least some fact based in the feeling – that things are not good, and we are all feeling the growing pains.
***
Howdy Neighbor?
An oft-repeated message we share here at the GSI: phones are not going anywhere. Social media is not going anywhere. But our fears and increasing unhappiness need to be addressed. So instead, we must find ways to live in harmony with our new realities, especially for the younger generations who might not even remember a world without them.
Closed Doors: According to a recent survey by AEI, the percentage of young adults speaking with their neighbors on a regular basis has been practically cut in half, from 51% to 25%, since 2012 – compared to only a 7% drop in older populations. We are also spending an unprecedented amount of time by ourselves. While the world may be at our fingertips through our phones, we’re having a harder time connecting to the real world in front of us.
Instability (of all kinds) creates anxiety, causing people to turn inward – and this is true from the youngest adults to the oldest. When we feel insecure, we tend to close ranks. Distrust can’t just stay contained to our economic fears; it spreads into everything else. The media, politics and our personal lives.
But we all know how important community is. 87% and 86% of the Gulf South and national respondents, respectively, identify community as important or very important in their personal lives. We know what we need to do, we just need to get ourselves there. As business owners, employees or individuals, it’s our responsibility to find a way to bridge the gap. Remember, the local news is still more trusted than the biggest influencers in the country.
***
Authority versus Authenticity
As we become more divided and disillusioned, the relationship between how we consume news and who we trust continues to evolve and, in some cases, fragment. While social platforms and personality-driven content may get more views, the news closest to us still seems to ring truest.
The Cult of Personality: 66% of teens and young adults blame politicians and social media companies for the spread of misinformation in news, while 57% of the same group claim to get at least some of their news from influencers or independent creators, according to a recent news report by AP-NORC. There is rampant skepticism when it comes to institutions, but it does not seem to translate to influencers and social personalities.
But luckily, local news is still largely trusted. While adults 65 and older may place significantly more trust in the local news than younger groups, they all still largely believe local news effectively covers important issues and prioritizes verifying information.
In the 2025 Gulf South Index by The Ehrhardt Group and Causeway Solutions, 78% of respondents, both nationally and in the Gulf South, trust the information coming from local news sources – higher than cable news networks and social media sites. We may spend more of our time getting information from Instagram, but we’re more likely to trust the local faces we recognize.
***
A lot feels wrong, and we aren’t where we want to be. But the good news is that we haven’t completely lost sight of what matters. Amid growing anxiety, distrust and frustration, we still value community and connection. We just have to search for it, maybe a little harder than we used to. In an era dominated by algorithms and influencers, trust can still belong close to home, among neighbors, local news, communities and businesses – reminding us we don’t have to face these growing pains alone.
America is wealthier than ever. Individual net worths have continued to grow, as has our country’s GDP, all while the unemployment rate remains low.
And yet, in regular polling, we seem increasingly lost – describing our lives and our country in terms of exhaustion, instability and distrust. And this problem doesn’t have one singular cause. It is not the product of a single malady, waiting to be healed. It is the result of multiple issues banding together to create an environment of distrust and anxiety, especially amongst younger populations.
Prosperity versus Precarity
Americans feel unstable. Whether it’s true or not, whether it’s valid or not, the feeling is undeniable. We may feel comfortable in our financial state, but sure enough, the latest economic report on the 6PM news makes us think differently. Even with record growth, we can’t help but feel lost.
Unhappy: The U.S. has fallen to our lowest ever ranking in the World Happiness Report. And as writer Derek Thompson pointed out, this is largely a result of the answers of young Americans, who reported a decline in their well-being. While they aren’t the only ones facing this general across-the-board unhappiness, Thompson notes, the multiple maladies of the 2020s has hit younger groups particularly hard – social media growth, a pandemic and an ever-growing culture of individualism are just a few examples of issues plaguing all Americans.
Which is to say nothing of the job market thing, an issue often top-of-mind for all Americans, but mainly younger individuals looking to establish themselves. Gallup reports only 43% of Americans aged 15 to 34 think it is a good time to find a job in the city where they reside. Whether the job market statistics agree with that or not, there is at least some fact based in the feeling – that things are not good, and we are all feeling the growing pains.
***
Howdy Neighbor?
An oft-repeated message we share here at the GSI: phones are not going anywhere. Social media is not going anywhere. But our fears and increasing unhappiness need to be addressed. So instead, we must find ways to live in harmony with our new realities, especially for the younger generations who might not even remember a world without them.
Closed Doors: According to a recent survey by AEI, the percentage of young adults speaking with their neighbors on a regular basis has been practically cut in half, from 51% to 25%, since 2012 – compared to only a 7% drop in older populations. We are also spending an unprecedented amount of time by ourselves. While the world may be at our fingertips through our phones, we’re having a harder time connecting to the real world in front of us.
Instability (of all kinds) creates anxiety, causing people to turn inward – and this is true from the youngest adults to the oldest. When we feel insecure, we tend to close ranks. Distrust can’t just stay contained to our economic fears; it spreads into everything else. The media, politics and our personal lives.
But we all know how important community is. 87% and 86% of the Gulf South and national respondents, respectively, identify community as important or very important in their personal lives. We know what we need to do, we just need to get ourselves there. As business owners, employees or individuals, it’s our responsibility to find a way to bridge the gap. Remember, the local news is still more trusted than the biggest influencers in the country.
***
Authority versus Authenticity
As we become more divided and disillusioned, the relationship between how we consume news and who we trust continues to evolve and, in some cases, fragment. While social platforms and personality-driven content may get more views, the news closest to us still seems to ring truest.
The Cult of Personality: 66% of teens and young adults blame politicians and social media companies for the spread of misinformation in news, while 57% of the same group claim to get at least some of their news from influencers or independent creators, according to a recent news report by AP-NORC. There is rampant skepticism when it comes to institutions, but it does not seem to translate to influencers and social personalities.
But luckily, local news is still largely trusted. While adults 65 and older may place significantly more trust in the local news than younger groups, they all still largely believe local news effectively covers important issues and prioritizes verifying information.
In the 2025 Gulf South Index by The Ehrhardt Group and Causeway Solutions, 78% of respondents, both nationally and in the Gulf South, trust the information coming from local news sources – higher than cable news networks and social media sites. We may spend more of our time getting information from Instagram, but we’re more likely to trust the local faces we recognize.
***
A lot feels wrong, and we aren’t where we want to be. But the good news is that we haven’t completely lost sight of what matters. Amid growing anxiety, distrust and frustration, we still value community and connection. We just have to search for it, maybe a little harder than we used to. In an era dominated by algorithms and influencers, trust can still belong close to home, among neighbors, local news, communities and businesses – reminding us we don’t have to face these growing pains alone.
Marc Ehrhardt
President
The Ehrhardt Group