Trust
“It is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest, that holds human associations together.” — H. L. Mencken
I am living in a failed state. Everything appears to be working but the most fundamental lever of power is broken — trust. I’m surrounded by symbols of prosperity and a settled existence. Every day, like so many others I go through key rituals to ensure that the system remains in place and that those who live in this bubble with me are happy and safe. But without trust to hold it together, the foundations of that happiness tremble.
When there is no trust, there is no intimacy. Things fall apart.
Of course, we all create our own realities and weave in a fair amount of fantasy to maintain that illusion — some accept it and continue as if it will last forever. Others, knowing the fundamental nature of everything is change, edge closer to darker conclusions. And without trust in the future, they reach those conclusions sooner.
Outside of the bubble, a pandemic is advancing. The virus itself has probably existed in its chosen host, a bat, for millennia — a peaceful, relatively benign co-existence. but a chance encounter with another warm-blooded host and a random mutation that made it transmissible has changed the structure of reality on our planet and called into question the legitimacy of our leaders, economic systems, and present way of life.
At an existential level, it threatens our health and prosperity and in the worst instance, it kills us. Another corrosive and universal symptom of this virus is the loss of trust. Nation states are putting up walls, essential freedoms are being stripped and surveillance is taking its place. Cyber wars are being fought as we speak using, ironically enough, digital viruses as weapons to destabilize efforts to find a cure for it, or for nation states to gain ascendancy in any subsequent cure.
Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the poor, increasing in number, as usual are worthless and expendable.
Oil is now worthless. Data is the new oil. The bigger question is what is the next great commodity? I would argue that it is, and always will be trust. Without it, we are lost as a species in whatever form that takes on the planet.
One of our greatest achievements as a species is altruism. Aside from any other quality, it is one of the reasons why we have managed to achieve a critical mass of humanity and, albeit temporarily, dominion over the natural world. If you are of a religious bent, this is no mistake and if you are not, it still rings true.
There have been multiple covenants in the Judaeo-Christian world. The first one started with a flood — a purge of iniquity. The second arose from the oppression of a people and the third was accompanied by multiple plagues and the flight of a people. From that second covenant, we get the creation of a nation and from the third, more relevantly the yardstick of Western moral behavior and many of its laws -the Ten Commandments.
The latest covenant is the one God purportedly made with mankind, based on the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ and a reset of the earlier failed attempts filled with misery and suffering. Part of its appeal as a story is its universality — under this new covenant, God writes His Law on human hearts, regardless of race — everyone is invited.
Christianity owes much of its success to the power of redemption — if you accept its tenets and the sacrifice of Christ you also get a free pass — the removal of sin and cleansing of the conscience. Who wouldn’t want such a reset?
It’s easy to frame the present pandemic as a punishment for Mankind’s wickedness and turn to religion for answers. But this virus, like all the other viruses, has no religion, no God, no morality — not even sentience. It only lives through us and if you follow the science, it follows an inexorable genetically encoded plan to infect everyone on the planet. It then becomes part of us.
Until such a time, or a cure, trust in another is our only hope and our only redemption. Without trust, everything we hold dear will be sown on the wind. Wars are typically fought for resources, but trust is endless, if we allow it.
