We Don’t Trust Each Other Anymore

To channel Tina Turner briefly, what’s trust got to do with keeping a nation?
Everything, it turns out.
Despite an uptick over the past year, Americans’ trust in the key institutions is fading. Congress, big business, national news outlets, the criminal justice system – the organizations that influence our public life most are those the least trusted.
The presidency, now presided by over by the trash-talking and tweeting Donald Trump, continues to see its confidence rating plummet. The media’s near-constant negative reporting doesn’t help Trump’s image.
Events in recent days are guaranteed to worsen domestic relations. Truth in character is a diminishing trait. Blame, as ever, lies on both sides.
The Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson’s latest offering highlights the abundance of lies coming from the White House. Everything from failed campaign disclosures to clumsy press hearing answers get Gerson’s goat. A swamp scribbler par excellence, the Post writer embodies establishment opinion on Trump. And while his criticisms are overwrought – the Trump Administration no more frames facts to create a more favorable image than its predecessor – they represent how many liberals view the President.

This post was published at Mises Canada on NOVEMBER 24, 2017.