Why We Lost Faith in Our Institutions & Each Other

Trust is the foundation of all relationships. But, in America, trust in our institutions and trust in each other is dying. According to Pew Research, two-thirds of adults think Americans have little or no confidence in the federal government or each other.

The declining level of trust in our institutions caused the Department of Homeland Security to recently launch a new Disinformation Governance Board with the stated goal to “coordinate countering misinformation related to homeland security.” It was a serious move to thwart the spread of disinformation by nefarious entities. But, it was launched with the skill of a tenth grader running for class President.

Can you imagine Madeline Albright or Henry Kissinger doing a Tik-Tok video?

Within three weeks of it’s launch the Disinformation Board was scrapped and the Executive Director forced to resign. It’s yet another sign of distrust in government and it’s institutions.

Executive Director Nina Jankowitz, courtesy of Newsweek

These institutions serve an important need. Yet, it seems no American institution is immune.

Ironically, in an era where we trust so little we often over-trust our leaders. For example, everyone loves the idea of term limits. But we keep re-electing the same knuckleheads every term. It seems we like the idea of term limits for other people’s elected officials, not ours. For example, Senator Mitch McConnell has been a US Senator since I was in high school. Senator Chuck Schumer has been in the Senate for 23 years. And, of course, President Biden has been in Washington since Jesus was a boy.

And, the political ads on television right now are idiotic. Take this gem from sitting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (no relation, thank God). After she “shot” the ad she auctioned off the sniper rifle. She will get re-elected. Mind boggling.

But, the distrust isn’t limited to government. We’ve lost trust in public, private, political and religious institutions.

Courtesy of Alex Shute, via Unsplash

One might argue that some of this mistrust has been earned. That’s is fair criticism. We’ve all lived through the church scandals and corporations putting profit over principle. And, we all watched the rich & famous in Hollywood lie, cheat & steal to get their kids into top-tier schools, like Stanford and Yale. Yes, much of this distrust is well-deserved.

The Media

The media is not immune. In 2020, media consumption by Americans reached record highs. Ratings were through the roof as we digested a contentious election, a worldwide pandemic and historic protests. But, a strange thing happened in 2020. With all that screen time, distrust in the media exploded. A record 60% of Americans reported having little to "no trust at all" in media. The news has become so polarized that only 5% of MSNBC’s audience are independent or Republican. Only 7% of Fox News viewers are independent or Democrat. It’s a gigantic echo chamber.

CNN’s new parent company is reportedly tamping down some of the opinion and hard-nosed, prime-time analysts that were popular during the Trump administration. While polarizing content improved their prime time ratings, the smash-mouth approach weakened “The Most Trusted Name in News” brand. Ironically, it seems the Trump era was the best thing that ever happened to CNN. Perhaps the other networks will follow CNN’s lead.

Look At Me…

Much of the distrust today is earned. See, many of our country’s greatest institutions have been hijacked as platforms for personal performance. Hijacked by individuals seeking fame & fortune for themselves, despite the integrity of the organization. The organization is merely a stage and we are merely the audience. And, perhaps the organizations are often blind to the self-serving behavior right under their nose.

And, today’s social media platforms give every individual the chance to be famous, to create a personal brand. Sports stars no longer rely on the team to be the brand. Tom Brady has his own brand and is far more powerful than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team. He has his own platform and fans to serve. The same holds true of many politicians, clergy and business leaders.

Jamie Dimon is the Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan, the largest bank in the United States. Last week he predicted to CNN that the US is headed for an economic hurricane. Note that the article below says nothing about J.P. Morgan. Yes, Jamie Dimon’s brand is bigger than J.P. Morgan.

By every measure, Jamie Dimon is a trustworthy guy and a brilliant Executive. But, it’s dangerous to allow an individual brand to usurp the organizational brand. JP Morgan was founded in 1799.

If the New York Times uncovered an enormous personal scandal by Dimon, you can bet that the public trust in J.P. Morgan would evaporate overnight.

Trust in Each Other

Ironically, 71% of Americans are less confident in each other than they were 20 years ago. Most claim that other people simply aren’t as reliable as they once were. Some respondents say that we simply don’t need each other as much as we used to. The technology we use allows us to insulate ourselves from each other. Need a ride to the doctor, use Uber. Need a cup of sugar, use Instacart. Need a prescription filled, use Amazon. We can literally insulate ourselves from humanity if we choose. That insulation can lead us to rely less on each other and assume people are less reliable than they once were.

The Masks

Throughout the pandemic, few topics elicited more mouth-breathing than the topic of masks. People lined up behind their opinions and fought vehemently. The New York Times served as one of the main media advocates for mask mandates. Just this week, Pulitzer-prize winning writer David Leonhart announced in the New York Times the following in an extensive piece on the effectiveness of masks:

“The evidence suggests that broad mask mandates have not done much to reduce Covid caseloads over the past two years.”

Accordjng to Leonhart, we are not likely to ever reach agreement on masks. Democrats are more likely to wear masks than Republicans. And, those who describe themselves as very liberal are more in favor of mask mandates. Thus, Republicans do not trust the government scientists and those who describe these bed as “very liberal” Democrats don’t trust the Republicans to make up their own minds. The mask issue has become a petri-dish of distrust in people and institutions.

Yes, we are down to only a few institutions of trust in the United States. I can count them on one hand. But, there are still a few things you can count on. When our military engages in a fierce battle you can count on them to bravely take the fight to the enemy. When your roof is on fire you can count on your local fire department to scale the roof, put out the fire and retrieve your cat from the burning building.

Courtesy of Logan Weaver via Unsplash

And, Now for Uvalde

But. something different happened in Uvalde, Texas. As the shooter barricaded himself inside an elementary school classroom, children aged 7-10 years old began calling 911. Amid the gunfire, the screaming and the blood, young children begged 911 operators for help. It didn’t come. For 70-plus minutes the children of Robb Elementary School waited. Meanwhile, according to The Washington Post, “The attack went on so long, witnesses said, that the gunman had time to taunt his victims before killing them, even putting on songs that one student described to CNN as ‘I want people to die music.’”

Yes, amid the horror of this story we have yet another tragedy unfolding. Young children who are taught to rely on adults, to trust the police-were were literally forgotten. How can any of these children recover from being left behind? How can any of them grow up to trust our institutions? How can any of them ever trust another human beings. It’s another chink in the armor of our American institutions.

One can only wonder as to why the school district police chief in charge of the scene did not act. One can only wonder why he wasn’t notified about the the 911 calls from children trapped inside the building. The calls from little children crying for help. And, why he was so thoroughly convinced that the shooter posed no additional harm to the children inside. The police officers I know, like Sergeant Jack Bentley, are the bravest people I know. I imagine many of those Uvalde police officers were ready to rely on their training. Training which advises officers to engage with active shooters as soon as possible. Training that teaches them to draw the gunfire towards themselves, so as to distract the shooter away from the children. No doubt many of those brave officers were ready to charge that building and take the fight to the enemy inside. But, despite recent active shooter training on that exact school campus, the school district police chief didn’t take the fight to the enemy. He cowered and let those little children suffer and die. It’s a disgrace and it’s yet another failure of our institutions when we needed them most.

I wish I had a quick and easy fix for our eroding trust in people and institutions, but I don’t. That’s where you come in. My writing is intended to be a conversation. That means you have to participate. What can we do to rebuild our trust in each other? Tell me what you think, below. And, please do me a favor and forward this article to a few friends who might want to join the conversation. Maybe we can come up with some ideas to solve this problem together.

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