Trust: A Quaint Idea From The Past/Or Nobody Trusts Anything Anymore...

[Ingomike]

Fresh on the heels of my "Epstein didn't kill himself" thread discussing the deeper meaning of the viral posts and statements comes a poll showing Americans trust no one. The poll asked "how much do you trust ????? to do what is right".

I would love to see the complete poll but have read some interesting points nonetheless.

As to my point that Americans trust no one, a paltry 50% said their primary care doctor would and that was the reported high mark. Our military was also high with 44%.

Of all the companies and institutions Americans deal with nothing garners a true majority of trust?

According to a new poll released Tuesday by Morning Consult, just 4% of Americans trust Hollywood. That’s lower than the number that trust Wall Street (5%) and the U.S. government (7%). The news media comes in at a dismal 8%.

Just 15% of Americans believe that religious leaders will do the right thing.

Shockingly (at least to the news media), Trump comes in at 20% on trustability.

The nationwide survey found that the most trusted brands in America are: the United States Postal Service; Amazon, Google, PayPal, The Weather Channel, Chick-fil-A, Hershey, UPS, Cheerios, and M&Ms. It is, however, a contest of mediocrity, as no brands were found to be particularly trustworthy, with these 10 brands garnering stamps of approval from just 34-42% of Americans.

 

[eldirector]

I wonder how much is the fomenting of mistrust and the 24x7 airing of dirty laundry.

On the flip side, some amount of distrust is a GOOD thing. Folks should look after them and theirs. Not trust/hope someone will swoop in and save them from themselves.

In God we trust. All others pay cash.

 

[Ingomike]

I wonder how much is the fomenting of mistrust and the 24x7 airing of dirty laundry.

On the flip side, some amount of distrust is a GOOD thing. Folks should look after them and theirs. Not trust/hope someone will swoop in and save them from themselves.

In God we trust. All others pay cash.

A very thought provoking point. Just like the danger of your kid playing outside being kidnapped is less today than in the past, 24 hour sensationalism is making parents irrational. Certainly could affect trust in institutions...

 

[churchmouse]

I wonder how much is the fomenting of mistrust and the 24x7 airing of dirty laundry.

In God we trust. All others pay cash.

"WINNER"

 

[CampingJosh]

Just 15% of Americans believe that religious leaders will do the right thing.

I wonder how many people voting "no" on this one should have voted "N/A" because they don't have religious leaders.

 

[eldirector]

I wonder how many people voting "no" on this one should have voted "N/A" because they don't have religious leaders.

Not saying THEIR religious leaders. Sounded like religious leaders, in general.

I don't trust a bishop any farther than I can throw him (diagonally, of course).

I certainly don't trust someone simply because of their self-selected job. I may have certain EXPECTATIONS, but trust? That is earned. Routinely do what you say you will do, and you might earn it. Say one thing and do another? Yeah... sorry.

 

[gregkl]

Routinely do what you say you will do

I'm with you Ryan. But I have even lowered my expectation of people.

In my experience this is largely lost. So many people give lip service. "Hey let's get together and have coffee!" "Sure, I'll help you with your plumbing problem." "I'll get that done for you".

I have come to expect people to not honor their word. Which is sad.

Why don't they just either say nothing or when asked, say "I can't do that thing you want me to do"?

 

[two70]

So we're supposed to trust a poll that concludes that "nobody trusts anything anymore"?

 

[churchmouse]

I'm with you Ryan. But I have even lowered my expectation of people.

In my experience this is largely lost. So many people give lip service. "Hey let's get together and have coffee!" "Sure, I'll help you with your plumbing problem." "I'll get that done for you".

I have come to expect people to not honor their word. Which is sad.

Why don't they just either say nothing or when asked, say "I can't do that thing you want me to do"?

I lowered expectations years ago.
I have a handful of friends locally that if I need them they will come. Goes both ways.
Actually just a couple now as time has taken its toll.

If I say I will......then I will.
If something changes and I cant or I will be delayed your phone will ring.
It is just how it should be.
But not so much anymore.

 

[eldirector]

Still, I wonder if it is so much "not anymore" vs. we interact with WAY more people now and are aware of MUCH more information.

Our parents and grandparents had/have notably smaller circles. They had family. They had a few friends. They had a small group of co-workers, shop keeps, and neighbors they interacted with routinely. They got to know who they could trust, and who was a flake.

Today, we are often far from our families. We have hundreds/thousands of virtual friends and very few real ones. We interact with hundreds of people daily at work, the grocery, in traffic, etc... We see intimate details of strangers' lives online and on TV. We THINK we know all these people. We THINK we are "friends". In actuality, we are much less connected on a personal level.

Same for folks in the public eye. Politicians have always been crooked. Priests have always diddled little boys. Cops have always been on the take. Before the Interwebs, papers, radio, and TV controlled the narrative, then they were in turn controlled by the SAME folks pulling the strings on the politicians, priests, and cops. NOW... we hear about every little thing. Definitely lifted the curtain, and exposed the beast. In some ways this is good: it is harder now to get away with "being bad". On the flip side, we all get to see just how bad the world really is.

 

[Mongo59]

A simple "let your yes mean yes and your no mean no" would go a long way in these times...

 

[gregkl]

A simple "let your yes mean yes and your no mean no" would go a long way in these times...

I agree. And like CM said, I will either do what I said or I will be calling you.

I have worked with a few contractors doing my home reno. I was surprised at the number of contractors that would come out, do the work to provide a quote and they go silent when I tried to contact them to do the work.

If they didn't want to do the job, they should have just told me when they showed up to see it. That would save them the time to quote it and I could move on.

It was a breath of fresh air to me when a couple just flat out told me they weren't taking on any new jobs.

 

[Slapstick]

I was raised that you have only one thing of true value in this life, your name and the reputation it carries. Everything else can be replaced. Why people throw it away at that the drop of a hat is beyond me but because they do I trust very few people.

 

[Ark]

So we're supposed to trust a poll that concludes that "nobody trusts anything anymore"?

I find the value of polls like this to be quite low, because they're essentially word association exercises. You're not really testing anything real, you're testing the momentary emotional response to a word.

 

[Ingomike]

I find the value of polls like this to be quite low, because they're essentially word association exercises. You're not really testing anything real, you're testing the momentary emotional response to a word.

What would they poll other than emotion? There is no reality...

 

[Ingomike]

Still, I wonder if it is so much "not anymore" vs. we interact with WAY more people now and are aware of MUCH more information.

Our parents and grandparents had/have notably smaller circles. They had family. They had a few friends. They had a small group of co-workers, shop keeps, and neighbors they interacted with routinely. They got to know who they could trust, and who was a flake.

Today, we are often far from our families. We have hundreds/thousands of virtual friends and very few real ones. We interact with hundreds of people daily at work, the grocery, in traffic, etc... We see intimate details of strangers' lives online and on TV. We THINK we know all these people. We THINK we are "friends". In actuality, we are much less connected on a personal level.

Same for folks in the public eye. Politicians have always been crooked. Priests have always diddled little boys. Cops have always been on the take. Before the Interwebs, papers, radio, and TV controlled the narrative, then they were in turn controlled by the SAME folks pulling the strings on the politicians, priests, and cops. NOW... we hear about every little thing. Definitely lifted the curtain, and exposed the beast. In some ways this is good: it is harder now to get away with "being bad". On the flip side, we all get to see just how bad the world really is.

Another good post. The human brain is not capable of handling the stress of current life without negative consequences. The human brain developed over millions of years to protect itself in small clusters environments, not in bustling cities of millions, schools of thousands, and a constant barrage of data input. I have often said that schools are too large, literally warehouses of kids, the independent life that man thought would be great is not so great. (Not to be confused with government dependence.) A life of interconnected community is an ideal way to live.

Living in a small community knowing everyone, who to trust, who not to, is almost extinct. That small community also made people be better as they would be held accountable.

 

[Leadeye]

Trust, while often hard to acquire, has a marketable value.

Years ago I remember being in a meeting with a new prospective sales rep and the sales manager over the technical aspects of a product. The customer that purchased from the new sales rep for some time was looking at switching to us and we had developed a competitive product. The sales manager did not want to sell this product but instead said the new rep should submit an inferior, but less costly product. This at first confused the young man until it was obvious that the game was to convert his customer's trust in him into dollars for the company. This ended with him not working for us and we never picked up that business, but it did give me valuable insights about the way leadership views the value of trust and how to exchange that for dollars.

AFTM

 

[Ingomike]

I would trust Churchmouse to fairly moderate my forum...

 

[gregkl]

I would trust Churchmouse to fairly moderate my forum...

+1

 

[churchmouse]

Ooofff…..the pressure is on now.....