Losing Trust - Quareness Series 220th "Lecture".
It seems rather obvious that the essential basis for a good society rests in ongoing trust...a live and let live ethic grounded in the golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you). Sadly it appears that this basic level of trust is fast disappearing for many of us today, perhaps primarily due to a widespread change in our systems and cultural practices. And this sad state begs the question of how we might (re)build our societal structures to allow for renewed human flourishing.
A society of low trust people is more likely one where few if any of its systems can firmly establish themselves and effectively function. Perhaps it is only through our first becoming high trust people that successful ordering structures can establish a firm foundation. It may also be that low trust societal systems which may appear to work (or be managed at tolerable cost) are more likely to become an oppressive burden on everything and everyone once they fall into dysfunction, disrepair and abuse.
In essence basic high trust is a matter of morality and can readily be seen as such where openly practised e.g. with the deployment of honesty boxes at retail outlets. It also underpins long lasting consensual societal cohesiveness where the focus is on friendly quality service rather than exploitation. However, for those of less moral fibre this public high trust may be seen as "easy pickings" and they may come to regard others as stupid for tolerating their stealing....
"why respect a culture full of idiots who are so easy to take advantage of." And everything then starts to break down.
Is such breakdown inevitable where there's a mismatch of ethics and systems? Some of us will remember a past where you could leave stuff outside unattended or leave your door unlocked with no fear of theft...in an easy and pleasant system of high trust because very few tended to game the "rules" and break the system. In this regard what we more often see today is a norm where rampant legalism and manipulation is feeding expensive costs for everyone. Wrongdoers are becoming increasingly aware that they can use your rights structure against you but you cannot effectively use it in self defence. It's somewhat of a modern conundrum that good people can easily be taken for a ride by such exploiters. And though much of such may start off being a small scale nuisance, it can rapidly grow wings to become systemic (like a toxin). Systems stress, systems break and systems fail.
Across much of the western world we could now be witnessing an aged, expensive and restrictive system speedily deteriorating and unable to adapt while being robbed of its earlier productive flourishing. It's increasingly looking like there's an inversion of ethics driven by incentives pushing high function high equilibrium systems towards low equilibrium ones through constant abuse, inattention, incomprehension and simpleminded plunder of complex systems that are too regimented and rigid to allow adaptation. It may well be that any truly successful society is a small place which left to itself can be incredibly resilient both internally and against external stressors. However, even small scale societies may have little of an internal immune system in the absence of high trust feeding high function.
Reality for us is crucially grounded in what we personally experience...hence the endurance of small scale functioning in our day to day living. And the ethical underpinning of such is really grounded in the golden rule which enables a cooperative cohesive societal structure for enlightened "live and let live" coexistence. Hopefully at the fork in the road we're now rapidly approaching we'll take the wiser option rather than continue to keep on sliding into a state which most likely cannot be repaired.
Go n-éirí an bóthar libh go léir...may the road rise with y'all.
Sean.
Dean of Quareness.
May, 2025.