Didn't your mommy love you? Roots of distrust

[Tero]

Or why do you distrust everything and everyone?

An eloquent description of American social dysfunction comes from my colleague David Brooks, writing about Edward Snowden, who leaked information on domestic surveillance. Brooks argues that Snowden is the product of an upbringing lacking “gently gradated authoritative structures: family, neighborhood, religious group, state, nation and world,” who thus became party to a rising tide of distrust, the corrosive spread of cynicism, the fraying of the social fabric and the rise of people who are so individualistic in their outlook that they have no real understanding of how to knit others together and look after the common good.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... ract/?_r=1&

[Audley Strange]

It's an argument, one I think we might have to actually consider as being possible. Shit way to make such an argument "Libruls make us all spies!" essentially. However there has been an erosion of authority since the moment Marduk killed Tiamat, and when the ultimate authority becomes the self we do veers towards pandemic sociopathy.

[mistermack]

It's hardly surprising that people are suspicious of authority. What top people did used to be hushed up and whitewashed.
Nowadays it's getting the full glare of publicity.

People now take their leaders with a pinch of salt. They know that while Bill Clinton was presenting as the model "American Dad", he was staining the dress of an intern. And Ronald Reagan was selling arms to the contras, he was in fact a criminal arms dealer, while presenting as a statesman. George W did it all in the open. He didn't have the brains to hide it, he just lied straight in the faces of the public, ( weapons of mass destruction ), and they were dumb enough to buy it, and actually dumb enough to believe him when he said it was "all a mistake ". George senior said " watch my lips " and then lied his head off, and it got him elected.
So W learned well from his daddy. Look em in the eye, and tell em whatever you like. They will swallow it.

So why the fuck is it any surprise when people are suspicious of authority these days? They know that their leaders are just as dishonest and downright stupid as they are themselves.

[pErvinalia]

Or why do you distrust everything and everyone?

An eloquent description of American social dysfunction comes from my colleague David Brooks, writing about Edward Snowden, who leaked information on domestic surveillance. Brooks argues that Snowden is the product of an upbringing lacking “gently gradated authoritative structures: family, neighborhood, religious group, state, nation and world,” who thus became party to a rising tide of distrust, the corrosive spread of cynicism, the fraying of the social fabric and the rise of people who are so individualistic in their outlook that they have no real understanding of how to knit others together and look after the common good.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... ract/?_r=1&

What a load of bollocks. It's possible to be both libertarian and socialistic in nature.

edit: although, having said that, I think I read somewhere he is a "Paulite" libertarian. So that would put him on the selfish side of the spectrum.

[Rum]

How about people care about individual rights and are willing to take huge risks to challenge oppression.

[Tero]

The control was left largely to the church in the middle ages. People may have had sex, before marriage, but those babies ended up disposed. The church gave you a marriage certificate, but not always. They wanted you to be able to support the 4-5 kids of the dozen that survived.

The 1950s was also a weird time (somewhat like now). There were communists! A witch hunt had to root them out.

The 60s did not leave much of a mark, but we got birth control and abortion. The freedom ideas of the hippies were distilled into the current liberal view.

The people that were pissed off about governmnent control on their property were mostly small town, rural. Some urban libertarians joined this disgruntlement and it started to take shape, with money from the Koch brothers, sometime in this century.

[Tero]

dduplicate

[Trinity]

I guess my take on trust is this: trusting someone, whether a significant other or an authoritative figure, implies an expectation of that someone to fulfil something that meets your moral/ethical etc criteria. This is unreasonable in my opinion and I believe that our natural predisposition is to distrust; simply because of our primal survival instincts require us to be watchful and aware of threat. So, although I don't live my life in a seriously guarded manner, I am cautious about what I share with who but always with the awareness that I'm not going to be surprised if someone drops me in the shit because they put themselves first.

[Trinity]

I guess my take on trust is this: trusting someone, whether a significant other or an authoritative figure, implies an expectation of that someone to fulfil something that meets your moral/ethical etc criteria. This is unreasonable in my opinion and I believe that our natural predisposition is to distrust; simply because our primal survival instincts require us to be watchful and aware of threat. So, although I don't live my life in a seriously guarded manner, I am cautious about what I share with who but always with the awareness that I'm not going to be surprised if someone drops me in the shit because they put themselves first.

[Trinity]

sorry, mods, double post-endre

[Feck]

I prefer to know people well rather than trust them I'm not sure I understand 'trust' in a general all encompassing way There are many people I trust to behave in a way I know I can rely on but it's more to do with my knowledge of them and what makes them tick than any great faith in them .

[Trinity]

FECK!!!!!