America's confidence in its institutions quickly eroded over the last 20 years. We have a lower level of trust in our justice system and elections than most European countries. Part of this is natural, because Americans are uniquely individualistic, but much of it stems from repeated failures of government.
Americans generally believe that public confidence can regain its full strength, but the current downward trend has not slowed down. Although distrust of government is often well-founded, a worrying increase in distrust has been noted among citizens. America's ever-increasing freedom originally imposed great responsibilities on citizens. With less institutional control, citizens had to both act with good will and hope that their fellow countrymen were benevolent. More liberal solutions meant that citizens had to trust word of mouth and connections rather than institutional certification. The most fundamental elements of industry would have ceased to function if Americans had refused to trust each other. The shared pursuit of individual goals within an institutional framework that explicitly limited each other arguably created more voluntary cooperation than any other civilization. Some have attributed this high level of trust to the relative cultural homogeneity of America at the time of its founding. Although a more similar cultural and religious background certainly helped the fledgling country, ingenuity and prosperity arose from the diversity created by freedom. Americans were able to trust each other and their institutions, even if they thought and worshiped differently. America's rejection of its trust-filled past can both reform our institutions and destroy our commercial strength.
The trust's ability to enable trade between foreigners has been slowly encroached upon by government licensing agencies. In the past, individuals could simply ask a friend if a cosmetologist or barber was competent. The cost of a bad barber's reputation would not allow horrible haircuts to continue. Individuals would simply stop paying and the “barber” would have to look for a more suitable profession. The surge in professional licensing has replaced personal trust with government approval. In a self-reinforcing cycle, licenses continue to be created and wary consumers are happy to see more professions licensed. Licensing processes often confer valuable skills, but those same skills would have been in demand even if they were actually useful. While the recent increase in the number of licenses and certifications is partly due to the recent growth in the population of bureaucrats, it also reflects the attitude of the American public. Moral degradation has made many citizens untrustworthy, and they see the same worrying trends in the citizens around them. Certifications and licenses act as a band-aid for the seriously damaged state of national trust. The reason such measures are only a band-aid rather than a cure is that trust will never be entirely replaceable. Its versatility allows it to smooth interactions between industries and individuals in ways that are far more delicate than regulation could ever hope for. Nonetheless, trust continues to be replaced as many individuals find more security in choosing bureaucrats whose names they will never even hear.
An immobile and old border post stands in the way of government encroachment. Individual distrust of government caused Americans to revolt against Britain, and this remains a challenge to the desires of bureaucrats and the fears of those who would be regulated. Just as distrust of other citizens harms free trade, distrust of government also harms its ability to control. This distrust manifests itself at the ballot box, in civic control of government activity and in the accumulation of assets unrelated to government control. The suspicious can look beyond bread deals and games of chance to investigate what lies behind selfish inefficiency. Although its coercive power remains regardless of the actions of individual citizens, distrust paralyzes one of government's most powerful means of control: information. When government-provided information is subject to scrutiny, truth can be more highly valued and lies can be quickly rejected. The opinion of any government employee who has written specific “objective information” can be derived through careful analysis. Those who have complete trust in government enter a self-reinforcing cycle that makes it increasingly difficult for their minds to break the grip of state control.
Trust in other citizens and trust in the state may seem similar at first glance, but they lead to very different national outcomes. Rejecting goodwill and cooperation before our eyes in favor of faceless security will lead to economic and national ruin. No amount of regulation can ever replace the goodwill and trust that are at the heart of American identity and success.
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