Restoring Trust

New York Times pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson surveys the current state of American disaggregation and finds a cause for optimism.

Just about everyone agrees that America’s institutions are broken. Most of us agree that we do not trust the government, business, the academy or the media. Worse yet, we do not trust each other.

The question is: how can we restore trust in our institutions and in each other?

Anderson proposes:

There is rising and perhaps unexpected alignment between Americans of different walks of life, from left to right. Granted, this alignment may at first glance seem like a problem, for what unites us, increasingly, is what we distrust. But consider this: We have thought of ourselves as so divided for so long, might there be some upside to starting the new year knowing we aren’t quite as polarized as we thought and that people with whom we assumed we had nothing in common also believe our institutions must do better?

In the great political divide, the nation is moving decidedly toward the right. So says Anderson. Fareed Zakaria made the same point in a recent Washington Post column. Leftist politics has failed and people know it has failed. Thus, people agree that someone else is needed.

Institutions have functions. They are there to serve the public and to contribute to social cohesion. When they fail to do so, people lose trust in them.

For example, the criminal justice system is charged with enforcing laws and removing miscreants from society. If it fails, and if crime spikes, people lose trust in the police.

The educational system is charged with teaching children how to function in the world and how to contribute to society. If it fails in its charge, by indoctrinating children or by teaching useless skills, people lose trust in the system.

Also, the military is designed to win and even to prevent wars. If it loses sight of its primary mission and dedicates itself to specious goals like DEI, people lose trust in it.

Also, the government is supposed to govern, to advance the public good, even at the expense of the individual good of legislators and bureaucrats. If it seems to be working to enhance its own power, regardless of the consequences, people will lose faith in the government.

Also, the media is supposed to report the news, accurately and without prejudice. If it continually slants the news in order to sell a point of view, people will cease to trust it.

When a nation’s institutions have another purpose, beyond public service, people will cease to trust them. As for why this happens, the reason lies in the weak character of the people who work within the institutions.

One recalls the press conference conducted by officials in New Orleans after the terrorist attack last week. And one compares it to the press conference conducted by officials in Las Vegas after a cyber truck exploded in front of the Trump building. 

No one doubts that the New Orleans officials displayed manifest incompetence while the Las Vegas officials displayed manifest competence.

When people understand that certain academic institutions are designed to indoctrinate, not to teach, they refuse to contribute and send their children to other schools.

When people figure out that MSNBC and CNN have been lying to them, they stop watching those channels.

When the military places emphasis on DEI, recruiting declines.

And so on.

Anderson emphasizes that people on the right and the left agree that institutions are unworthy of trust.

Perhaps the lesson of the last election was that identity politics is the enemy of institutions. Hiring and nominating people because of their skin color or sex reduces trust in institutions. Compare the women who run New Orleans to the men who run Las Vegas policing.

Finally, Anderson makes an interesting point. We can take a step toward restoring trust in institutions by acting responsibly and reliably in our everyday interactions. We should not just whine about trust; we should practice it, by being trustworthy:

I believe distrust in institutions is related to general decreases in the extent to which we trust one another at an interpersonal level. 

Do you make a point of being reliable and responsible, of fulfilling your obligations, of keeping your word, of showing up on time. Only by showing yourself to be trustworthy in your everyday interactions will be have the basis for restoring trust in institutions.

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