by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
Loss of social trust has consequences.
There are three solvents of social trust: 1) the self-aggrandizement of insiders; 2) decay of competence, and 3) precarity, generated by soaring inequality / cost of living and the decay of social mobility, all of which erode confidence in the social contract, i.e. our confidence that the system isn’t rigged to benefit the few at the expense of the many.
These are of course related, but let’s tease them apart. Once insiders focus on maximizing their personal gain as the purpose and goal of their employment, the value of the institution’s service to the public / customers decays behind a flimsy screen of self-serving PR promoting the successes of the hollowed-out institution.