You pay for trust; I'm granted it™

The whole difference between a brand and a person, in one line. A corporation buys trust — that is all advertising is: dollars spent to manufacture a feeling it never earned, "America's most trusted brand" printed as a line item. A human is granted trust — it's given, by people, for what you actually did, and once you spend it you can't buy it back. The brand pays for the feeling; the person earns the fact. It's the Gray Star again: trust that was paid for is gray trust — status with no merit under it; trust that was granted is gold. That's why the attention thieves get your dollars without deserving your attention, and why a disabled man with no ad budget can be believed where a billion-dollar logo can't. Kin: no real name, no real trust, the Gray Star, brands, agreement out of comprehension. (His coin — the trust that's earned, not the kind in a bank; machine's read, refine to his.)