The Incredible Trust We Place In The World

It's in your hands.

What are you going to do with it?

          The very fabric of society is dependent on people doing the right thing because it is the right thing.  The amount of trust we give it is nothing short of astounding.  If it doesn't seem that way to you in light of terrorist attacks around the world, politicians fighting for power, and monolithic companies out to get a quick cash grab, that's probably a good thing.  It means that you feel like you should be able to hold people to a higher standard of trust  than you do and you're right.  But that doesn't take away from the incredible amount of trust we already have in each other.

          If everyone at the grocery store tried to shoplift, it would go out of business regardless of how many measures they put in place to catch people.

          If everyone who drove a car deliberately tried to run people off the road every time they got behind the wheel, we would never go outside again.

          If every, or even most, gun owners attempted a serious terrorist act, civilization would crumble in an afternoon (This isn't a commentary on gun rights, it's just a fact).

          We trust our children to childcare.

          We trust our social security number to our bosses and government employees.

          We trust the FDA to keep people from poisoning us.

          The fact is, we trust people a lot more than we don't.

          Now, it's obvious that there are going to be some people who violate that trust.  That's the way of the world and something we have to live with every day.  But the answer to that isn't to withdraw trust completely.  That would paralyze us.

          No matter how many rules and regulations we set up, we will never be able to legislate conscience.  The best we can do is to put a few rules in place to keep us safe and then try to motivate others to live up to the trust that society gives them.  The way to fix the world doesn't involve making the system as far reaching and protective as possible.  It involves helping people turn inward and sort out their own decisions to do what is right.

          Can we trust people to do that?

          We have to.  Because that's the only way any society can run.  No one would buy anything if every company in the world tried to con people into buying useless products.  No one would stop for the police if there wasn't at least some measure of trust that they wouldn't use the gun at their hip unless it was necessary.  No one would ever make true friendships if everyone in the world had only their own interests in mind at all times.

          Of course there are people in this world who aren't trustworthy.  But it isn't all bad.

          There also are people who spend their entire lives running into burning buildings to rescue people.  There are people who spend their mental and physical health defending a country they believe in.  There are those who use power to make a difference in the world.

          And in reality, this is why we trust people.  Because while many people will disappoint us, many others won't.  Even more, WE can be the influence that inspires people to honor the trust they've been given.

          So in an era of ever increasing fraud, the only place to look is in.  Because the only person's integrity we can ever live up to is our own, and because we won't beg people to reach higher than what we're willing to go ourselves.

So, I'M begging you.

The fate of your corner of the world is in your hands.

What are you going to do with it?

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Photo attribution: A. Pagliaricci, "Cocoon," https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode