You've isolated the crux of the issue. Those in power have long since realized that they can abuse your trust to 2 ends - they can exploit you while you trust them, and even when you stop trusting them, you tend to stop trusting everyone, making it harder for you to come together with your peers to rival the strength of the system.

The paradox we must overcome is that we must inherently distrust the wealthy, while still having enough trust in our peers to stand with them against the wealthy without fearing that they'll shoot us in the back. It seems easy to differentiate between the two groups, but it's surprisingly difficult to see 2 people with no outward differentiating factors, yet trust one with your life and assume the other is planning to manipulate you.