“The answer comes down to each of us — even to you, as students here in this university,” expressed Yuval Levin in his forum address at the BYU Marriott Center.
Levin, director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of National Affair, spoke on the growing crisis in American society — one marked by a breakdown in trust, cooperation and a shared sense of purpose.
“Over decades now, we’ve seen a collapse of trust in almost all institutions — public, private, civic and political,” Levin said.
He proposed possible actions that the country could take to overcome that lack of trust.
He emphasized that the first step to a solution is awareness followed by a restoration of trust. To restore trust, each individual within an institution must recognize their roles and obligations, aligning personal behavior with institutional integrity rather than personal gain.
“All of us can play a part in healing our society’s wounds and divisions these days by thinking consciously, explicitly, about how to make the institutions that we are part of a little stronger,” Levin said.
He then emphasized the power of the individual. He taught that each individual can shift toward earnest engagement by asking, “Given my role here, how should I behave?” This can help rebuild institutions and foster a sense of collective belonging.
“We lose trust in an institution when we no longer really believe that it plays this ethical or formative role of shaping the people within it to be trustworthy,” Levin explained.
Small steps toward responsibility and integrity can drive significant societal change, emphasizing the need for builders in shaping the future.
“It’s a small thing. But thinking and speaking just a little differently about how we live together can make a bigger difference than you might imagine,” Levin said. “Small steps like those are what make great changes possible. They are constructive, and so they build on each other and turn us all into builders.”
