In a speech accepting the Manhattan Institute’s Alexander Hamilton Award, former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse argued that America is grappling with a “civilization-warping crisis of institutional decline,” a trend accelerated by the rise of artificial intelligence. Sasse pointed to data showing the share of Americans with no close friends has quadrupled since 1990 as evidence of a deepening crisis of loneliness and disconnection.
“We are in a civilization-warping crisis of institutional decline. The consequences are all around us,” Ben Sasse said during his speech on May 6. “The challenge is how to live with virtue and technology when technology tends to erode virtue and place and human texture.”
Sasse supported his argument with polling data showing a collapse in social and institutional trust. Public trust in the federal government has fallen from 77% in the mid-1960s to just 17% last year, according to Pew Research. He also noted that only one in three Americans believe they can trust most people, a significant decline from previous decades that fosters an environment where conspiracy theories can metastasize.
The core of the issue, Sasse argues, is a technological and economic revolution that is unbundling traditional job roles and creating spiritual and cultural disruption. He posits the central conflict is not between political parties but between those who master technology and those who become enslaved by its algorithms, creating a future of “heaven and hell” depending on which path is chosen.
The 4 Habits for a Digital Age
To combat this, Sasse proposed four specific habits for families to cultivate, arguing that virtue is fostered in the “smallest but most important platoons” of society, not by Washington policy. The habits are:
- Reading: With fewer than half of Americans having read a book last year, Sasse calls for a return to reading aloud in families to build longer attention spans and a shared intellectual foundation.
- Hard Work: He advocates for involving children in chores and physical labor from a young age to counter a culture that insulates them from work until their mid-20s.
- Tech Sabbaths: Sasse urges families to lock up devices, especially during meals, to create space for conversation and genuine connection, guarding against constant digital intrusion.
- Serious Travel: Viewing travel as a form of work (“travail”) that builds character by forcing individuals out of their comfort zones, he suggests extended stays with other families and multigenerational living to build thicker community bonds.
Trust, Reconfigured from Blockchain to Banks
Sasse’s diagnosis of declining trust in traditional institutions finds a fascinating parallel in the world of technology itself. While public trust wanes, a new, engineered form of trust is being built on blockchains. Initially, Bitcoin’s “proof-of-work” system created trust through immense computational cost, a direct response to the low-trust environment after the 2008 financial crisis. More recently, Ethereum’s shift to a “proof-of-stake” model slashed energy use by over 99%, but tied influence to financial ownership, raising new questions about equity.
Now, a third wave, “proof-of-authority,” is being adopted by major financial players like JP Morgan. These private, permissioned blockchains rely on a small number of known, reputable validators. This evolution from a trustless system to one that re-centralizes trust with identifiable institutions shows that technology is not just destroying old structures but also creating new, more traceable and auditable ones. It suggests the future is not a complete erosion of trust, but its reconfiguration, with major banks and tech firms at the center.
When a Post Office Is More Than a Post Office
The institutional decay Sasse describes is not merely an abstract threat; it has tangible consequences for communities. In Christchurch, New Zealand, the planned closure of the Stanmore Book and Post shop illustrates the loss of what Sasse calls “human texture.” For over 140 years, a post office has served the area, with the current incarnation acting as a vital community hub, particularly for isolated and low-income residents in a socio-economically deprived part of the city.
Locals describe it as “much more than a postal service,” a place for connection, advice, and companionship. One former volunteer said the community would lose “a little bit of its heart.” The closure, driven by commercial returns, highlights the tension between economic efficiency and social cohesion. It serves as a microcosm of Sasse’s warning: the erosion of local institutions, however small, has profound implications for the social fabric that technology often overlooks.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
