In No One We Trust

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/in-no-one-we-trust/?_r=0

"In America today, we are sometimes made to feel that it is naïve to be preoccupied with trust. Our songs advise against it, our TV shows tell stories showing its futility, and incessant reports of financial scandal remind us we’d be fools to give it to our bankers.

That last point may be true, but that doesn’t mean we should stop striving for a bit more trust in our society and our economy. Trust is what makes contracts, plans and everyday transactions possible; it facilitates the democratic process, from voting to law creation, and is necessary for social stability. It is essential for our lives. It is trust, more than money, that makes the world go round.

We do not measure trust in our national income accounts, but investments in trust are no less important than those in human capital or machines.

Unfortunately, however, trust is becoming yet another casualty of our country’s staggering inequality: As the gap between Americans widens, the bonds that hold society together weaken. So, too, as more and more people lose faith in a system that seems inexorably stacked against them, and the 1 percent ascend to ever more distant heights, this vital element of our institutions and our way of life is eroding.

The undervaluing of trust has its roots in our most popular economic traditions. Adam Smith argued forcefully that we would do better to trust in the pursuit of self-interest than in the good intentions of those who pursue the general interest. If everyone looked out for just himself, we would reach an equilibrium that was not just comfortable but also productive, in which the economy was fully efficient. To the morally uninspired, it’s an appealing idea: selfishness as the ultimate form of selflessness. (Elsewhere, in particular in his “Theory of Moral Sentiments,” Smith took a much more balanced view, though most of his latter-day adherents have not followed suit.)

But events — and economic research — over the past 30 years have shown not only that we cannot rely on self-interest, but also that no economy, not even a modern, market-based economy like America’s, can function well without a modicum of trust — and that unmitigated selfishness inevitably diminishes trust..."

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On another thread, Stormy said that she strove not to be judgemental...and I agree with that sentiment to a point. The thought occurred to me then that when I'm judgmental, it's really an assessment of how much trust I can put in another person. We've got to restore trust in our relationships...all of them. How do we do that?

  

Inequality..... Ever read the book "the Bell Curve"? Some folks will just never be average and not everyone can be average in ability bank account etc

Taking another people's wealth and redistributing it is horsecrap.

Especially
When most of the redistribution is from middle class people

I don't trust liberals and that cannot be fixed,.

Floridatexan wrote:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/in-no-one-we-trust/?_r=0

"In America today, we are sometimes made to feel that it is naïve to be preoccupied with trust. Our songs advise against it, our TV shows tell stories showing its futility, and incessant reports of financial scandal remind us we’d be fools to give it to our bankers.

That last point may be true, but that doesn’t mean we should stop striving for a bit more trust in our society and our economy. Trust is what makes contracts, plans and everyday transactions possible; it facilitates the democratic process, from voting to law creation, and is necessary for social stability. It is essential for our lives. It is trust, more than money, that makes the world go round.

We do not measure trust in our national income accounts, but investments in trust are no less important than those in human capital or machines.

Unfortunately, however, trust is becoming yet another casualty of our country’s staggering inequality: As the gap between Americans widens, the bonds that hold society together weaken. So, too, as more and more people lose faith in a system that seems inexorably stacked against them, and the 1 percent ascend to ever more distant heights, this vital element of our institutions and our way of life is eroding.

The undervaluing of trust has its roots in our most popular economic traditions. Adam Smith argued forcefully that we would do better to trust in the pursuit of self-interest than in the good intentions of those who pursue the general interest. If everyone looked out for just himself, we would reach an equilibrium that was not just comfortable but also productive, in which the economy was fully efficient. To the morally uninspired, it’s an appealing idea: selfishness as the ultimate form of selflessness. (Elsewhere, in particular in his “Theory of Moral Sentiments,” Smith took a much more balanced view, though most of his latter-day adherents have not followed suit.)

But events — and economic research — over the past 30 years have shown not only that we cannot rely on self-interest, but also that no economy, not even a modern, market-based economy like America’s, can function well without a modicum of trust — and that unmitigated selfishness inevitably diminishes trust..."

----------------

On another thread, Stormy said that she strove not to be judgemental...and I agree with that sentiment to a point.  The thought occurred to me then that when I'm judgmental, it's really an assessment of how much trust I can put in another person.  We've got to restore trust in our relationships...all of them.  How do we do that?

  

How do you expect any trust, whatsoever, to come to fruition when we have a President who has done more to divide our country, to pit American against American, young against old, poor against rich, black against white than any President in modern history?

Markle wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/in-no-one-we-trust/?_r=0

"In America today, we are sometimes made to feel that it is naïve to be preoccupied with trust. Our songs advise against it, our TV shows tell stories showing its futility, and incessant reports of financial scandal remind us we’d be fools to give it to our bankers.

That last point may be true, but that doesn’t mean we should stop striving for a bit more trust in our society and our economy. Trust is what makes contracts, plans and everyday transactions possible; it facilitates the democratic process, from voting to law creation, and is necessary for social stability. It is essential for our lives. It is trust, more than money, that makes the world go round.

We do not measure trust in our national income accounts, but investments in trust are no less important than those in human capital or machines.

Unfortunately, however, trust is becoming yet another casualty of our country’s staggering inequality: As the gap between Americans widens, the bonds that hold society together weaken. So, too, as more and more people lose faith in a system that seems inexorably stacked against them, and the 1 percent ascend to ever more distant heights, this vital element of our institutions and our way of life is eroding.

The undervaluing of trust has its roots in our most popular economic traditions. Adam Smith argued forcefully that we would do better to trust in the pursuit of self-interest than in the good intentions of those who pursue the general interest. If everyone looked out for just himself, we would reach an equilibrium that was not just comfortable but also productive, in which the economy was fully efficient. To the morally uninspired, it’s an appealing idea: selfishness as the ultimate form of selflessness. (Elsewhere, in particular in his “Theory of Moral Sentiments,” Smith took a much more balanced view, though most of his latter-day adherents have not followed suit.)

But events — and economic research — over the past 30 years have shown not only that we cannot rely on self-interest, but also that no economy, not even a modern, market-based economy like America’s, can function well without a modicum of trust — and that unmitigated selfishness inevitably diminishes trust..."

----------------

On another thread, Stormy said that she strove not to be judgemental...and I agree with that sentiment to a point.  The thought occurred to me then that when I'm judgmental, it's really an assessment of how much trust I can put in another person.  We've got to restore trust in our relationships...all of them.  How do we do that?

  

How do you expect any trust, whatsoever, to come to fruition when we have a President who has done more to divide our country, to pit American against American, young against old, poor against rich, black against white than any President in modern history?

You're a prime example of someone whom I do not trust. Anyone who would post the tripe you spew daily is not worthy of trust.

On another thread, Stormy said that she strove not to be judgemental...and I agree with that sentiment to a point.  The thought occurred to me then that when I'm judgmental, it's really an assessment of how much trust I can put in another person.  We've got to restore trust in our relationships...all of them.  How do we do that?

  [/quote]

Hey FT, I didn't mean to confuse the two. In my feeble mind trust is something one earns. It's simply not a given, at least in my life experiences which are fairly horrendous.

Judgement is probably the worst form of racism, egotism as it involves automatically placing yourself above those whom you judge.