Trust

Trust in self. Trust in family. Trust in friends. Trust in career others. Trust in business connections and partners. Trust in government. Trust in all levels of government. Trust is a basic element in much of what we do in life.

Trusting in self is the core of knowing the self. Who am I? What am I about? What will I do with my life, talents, likes and dislikes? How does this self-knowledge calculate in relating to others? Can I be honest with them if I cannot be honest with myself? Whole books have been written on this topic alone. It figures into so much of our life’s experience and at times when we least expect it. Looking back, I can note many times when I suddenly became aware of knowing something about myself, I had not known previously. Stunning realizations, really.

But when we think about our daily activities in any detail, trust is a central notion of why we do what we do. I switch on the lamp because I need light but also trust that the power will be ready at hand. This is so automatic it forms the shock when the lamp does not go on. It takes a minute or two to realize the entire office or home is without power. The switch of lamp. Trust in power connection. Trust.

Buying groceries, I trust the food products will be healthy and whole and worth the given price. Competition helps me trust that prices are fair and reasonable. Trust in the store’s history assures me their products are good. Trust is present at every level of grocery shopping!

And buying a car? Or getting gas at the local station? Each transaction is based on trust.

That our entire commercial system works at all is based on assumptions of trust.

Now turn your attention to government. How much do you trust your governments. Several levels of government. Each managed on their own by our elected officials and their choices in staffing. And financing infrastructure and processes. Do you trust your water supply? Your garbage and sewer disposal? Do you rely on police and fire departments for their services to protect our safety? Do you trust your school systems? Your college or university?

What about your health providers? Do you trust them? The doctors, nurses, hospitals and labs? Trust is everywhere. Without it we have nothing, or very little.

But trust in government far away, in DC or any other capitol, do you, have it?  The trust in it?

The test of trust in my national government is very shaky these days. Not just the White House, but Congress and the Judiciary. My trust in all of them in the federal system of government is not reliable for me these days.

Trust. Shaky and dusty. Doubtful and unreliable. Sought but not believed. Heard but not known. In control or not? What of trust today in our national government?

I shudder. I do not trust the federal government to do its job. I witness this every day in the news. A war. Taxes without warning. Trade unsettled and unreliable. Transactions of everyday life no longer believable?

Trust. Where is it? How do we get it back?

June 27, 2025