We live in a trust-based world.
We trust that the police will come when we dial 911.
We trust that our government representatives are looking out for us as individuals and as a nation.
We trust that the money in our bank account is real and will be there when we go to withdraw it.
We trust that people we love are telling us the truth.
We trust that what we see is real.
We trust that our food is safe to eat.
We trust that our neighbors won’t steal from us while we’re away.
We trust our doctors will do nothing to harm us.
We trust that our loved ones aren’t cheating on us.
We trust that those we love, trust us.
We trust that a judge will follow the law when presiding over us in court.
We trust that everyone around us is good (for the most part).
We trust that the driver next to us doing 80 miles-an-hour on the freeway won’t suddenly swerve at us and drive us into a ditch.
We trust that someone we both admire and respect will be true to their word.
We trust our waiter hasn’t dropped our steak.
We trust that the lights in our home will go on, the heat will work, and the water will run.
We trust that companies aren’t stealing from us or selling our personal information for nefarious purposes.
We trust that the authorities in power aren’t working to undermine us in any way or preventing us from pursuing our dreams.
We trust the pilot of our plane has been vetted, trained, and hopefully remains sober for the duration of the flight.
We trust that sunscreen isn’t poison.
We trust that the teachers in school are teaching our kids well.
We trust that our vote counts and is counted properly.
We trust the countries next to us won’t invade us without provocation or fire a nuke into one of our cities.
We trust our printed paper money is worth something.
We trust that the world today will look and act much the same tomorrow.
Trust is the cornerstone of a free, open, and prosperous society.
Trust should never be taken for granted. It must be earned with every interaction and strengthened with every word.
Trust is a tenuous and fragile thing. A trusted position can be compromised with any failure to abide by the privilege that trust implies.
Trust is assumed as solid, until it isn’t.
We are entering a period where the trust earned over a long stretch of time and painfully established by those who came before us and sacrificed much is being eroded away. At some point, the foundation of trust will give way and the structure will collapse.
So,…how can trust be restored?
THIS may be the question for our time.
The only answer is….slowly. One action at a time. One true word after another.
It all begins with you.