https://www.wsj.com/opinion/can-you-trust-anybody-president-media-influencer-ai-aa13b7ea
Who can you trust anymore? Just before leaving office, President Biden railed against a “tech-industrial complex” claiming, “The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.” Hmmm, was he referring to the coverup of his own health decline and the sharp-as-a-tack charade? Can we trust presidents? The press? Anyone?
We’re told to trust the process. Trust the system. Even trust the science. Trust always starts with a belief in truth and adds in a little integrity, reliability and character. Often, it’s more faith than belief. Being trustworthy is the first attribute of Boy Scout Law. How quaint. We’re told to trust “experts.” I like to say, “I trust them about as far as I can throw them.”
In 1964, according to Pew Research, 77% of Americans trusted the government to do what is right. Around that time, the Free Speech Movement’s Jack Weinberg coined the phrase, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” Maybe that was the start of trust’s decline.
Lately, 22% of Americans trust government. Ouch. Lockdowns, social distancing, masks and school closings didn’t help. Neither did the Hunter Biden laptop coverup.
“Donald Trump” and “trust” rarely cohabitate the same sentence. Ask Elon Musk. The president has done some smart things and plenty of dumb ones. But on optics—which leads to trust or superficial trust anyway—he’s failed. The Trump administration’s crypto hustle, going after political enemies and Middle East deals don’t signal trustworthiness. Are 747s the new political-action committees? Once lost, trust is hard to regain.
Technology amplifies mistrust.