If you don't run a node, you have to trust someone else to tell you if the bitcoin you receive is actually real.

You can trust others, but it raises the question: why not just trust them to hold your keys too?

I guess it comes down to why you want bitcoin in the first place. If you want it because you want freedom money, money you can send to anyone anywhere anytime and because you think it is the hardest money on earth...I'd say it's probably necessary to run a node, at least whenever you receive new bitcoin. If you just want to make some money because of ngu...don't worry about it.

But I see your question is about whether everyone needs to run a node. It is certainly true that bitcoin has a better chance of resisting government control when many more people are running nodes and using them to verify coins they receive in payment for goods or services. Bigger circular economy (where participants do their own verification of coins) means stronger censorship resistance.