Book Theme: Eroded Trust in Social Institutions
This entry touches upon one of the main themes of not only my upcoming debut science fiction novel but the entire series. The theme of eroded trust in institutions is not a new topic. For centuries, the masses have been at odds with various types of major social institution at one point or another. Whether it be the government, military, religion, judicial system, the educational system, the financial system, science, corporations, media, or medicine our societies have instilled these institutions with authority while also defying that same authority. It seems that during the current social climate, both here in the U.S. and globally, the trust in many of these institutions is decreasing…and for good reason. Unfortunately, trust in each other amongst the public also appears to be at a particularly low point now. So, what is one to do if they truly want to make sense of all of this mistrust which is steadily deteriorating the fabric of society? The most logical approach I can think of is to examine the devolution of the relationship between the public and at least some of these institutions. Since I live in the United States, I’ll primarily be referencing institutions of the U.S.
The first and most obvious institution to discuss is the government. And by government, I mean at the federal, state, county/parish, and local levels. The government is the only entity that is intertwined with each of the institutions I referenced above. It is no secret that a large portion of our government is corrupt. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where some form of corruption, legal or illegal, is expected of most of our elected public servants . From my observations, there are many factors that contribute to both this repulsive behavior from those public servants and the public’s acceptance of such behavior. The top level cause of this dynamic is the structure of the two-party political system. Due to the stranglehold that the two major political parties have on this institution, there is widespread lack of motivation or ability to change the system from within. Additionally, the masses have been conditioned for generations to see this corruption as simply an undesirable but necessary part of the political system. What is even worse is that over time this two-party system has conditioned the masses to believe that this is how the American political is AND will always be. Fortunately, that is not true, and more people are realizing that, particularly the younger generations. That is very understandable considering how our political machine has consistently failed young people for most of their lives. From starting endless, offensive wars to creating boom-bust cycles in the economy to failure in bringing the country up to par with the rest of the industrialized world with universal healthcare and relatively reasonable prescription drug process and so on, the government has consistently made disastrous choices. As a consequence of those horrible choices, the younger generations have yet to experience the opportunity for anything resembling the so-called ‘American Dream’. Through the constant barrage of governmental failure after failure the brunt felt largely by the youth has forged deep resentment and distrust towards a government that refuses to course correct for the benefit of the population it is supposed to serve.
I now want to focus on an institution that is directly involved with the corruption of the government, the financial system. Regarding the financial system, I consider major banks, ‘Wall Street’, and all other wealthy or influential market participants to constitute the bulk of that system. With that said, the concept of the ‘American Dream’ has long been sold to the public as an attainable goal that can be achieved through hard work, ingenuity, and persistence. Now, that is possible for many. However, it is not possible for most people because no matter how hard they work or how persistent they are. Primarily, the current financial system requires millions to be in personal debt, much of which are insurmountable obstacles for most. Secondly, we do not live in a meritocracy that would adequately award all (or even most) people that fulfill those criteria. I say that because the American financial system is based on trickle down economics as opposed to funneling the money upwards through the poor and working class. A primary example of this is a comparison of the coronavirus stimulus package for Wall Street, major banks, and big corporations and stimulus package for the American public. For sake of clarity, I’ll call the first package ‘Package A’ and the second ‘Package B’. Package A was passed by Congress and the President in March of 2020 within mere weeks of being proposed. Trillions of American taxpayer dollars were used to bailout Wall Street, major banks, and big corporations with:
no delay
no questions of “how are we going to pay for it”
no concerns raised on it adding to the national debt and deficit
no red tape; and
very little accountability for how and to whom the funds were distributed
Whereas Package B has primarily resulted in a handful of stimulus check dispersals for the average citizens that, in total, only equal a fraction of the total cost for Package A. Mind you, Package B had none of the expediting benefits highlighted above for Package A.
That was only one huge example of many huge examples throughout the country’s history in which socialism for the rich is encouraged while socialism for the poor and working class is vilified. And it is because of this toxic double standard as well as the gaslighting of the public to downplay, ignore, mischaracterize, and rationalize this double standard that resentment to such a system has only grown intensely over the centuries. By now the American public has come to realize that their country’s financial system does not operate in a meritocracy. Instead, it actively works to maintain inequality in opportunity.
The last institution that I’ll reference in this blog is an especially disappointing institution, the mainstream media. The concept of the media being the watchdog acting on behalf of the public by holding the government accountable for wrongdoings and corrupt activities has been replaced by two factors that have been detrimental to its credibility as well as the awareness of the people.
The first is an incessant need to entertain rather than adequately inform the public on the state of their country and the world. There are various motivating factors for this perversion of news reporting: political and corporate biases, grudges, thirst for corporate advertisement dollars, desire to get higher Nielsen ratings (even though such ratings are antiquated and cannot possibly give accurate data on viewership), etc.
The second is the media’s need to have access to power taking precedence over fulfilling their true purpose of holding the powerful accountable. This dynamic plays out often in:
softball interviews of politicians & corporate representatives
‘fluff’ news articles,
intentional undercoverage of certain important and relevant news (eg: the 2020 Indian general strike, the largest worker strike in recorded history)
too much coverage of sensationalized news stories (eg ‘culture war’ news which is one set of the primary tools used to intentionally drive wedges and cause divisions among the people)
As disheartening as those examples are, the dynamic of the media and government being ally’s as opposed to adversaries is best on display at events such as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
With that said, much of the public has come to accept that the mainstream news media is not to be trusted. That is sad, but it is a great thing. Withe access to a multitude of alternative news sources, the influence that the mainstream once had is steadily diminishing over time, unlikely to ever return in our lifetimes.
The important question that we are currently facing is: what are we as a society going to do with all of this distrust in all of these institutions that have failed us? We can either unite despite our differences and assertively push for deep fundamental changes in how society is run or we can fall back in line and do what we’re told. The choice is (and always has been) ours.