Can We Repair Declining Social Trust
Disclaimer
As I get deeper into this topic, it is a very American point of view. This is because one, I am an American, two, I live in America, and three, this is the perspective that I have. I have friends worldwide, I have had conversations about what they are going through, and although it is similar, I cannot speak with authority on that experience. From the reading and research that I have done, I can confidently report that the issues we are facing with lack of trust in the established institutions in the United States are on par with the rest of the world.
Can We Fix It?
Over the last few years, we have seen a remarkable decline in the public Trust of political, business, government, and civic institutions. This decline in trust is not only an issue in the United States, we are seeing this hold true worldwide.
This lack of trust has manifested itself in the chaos during the summer of 2020, the January 6th political unrest (AKA the insurrection) at the United States Capitol, and the distrust of the information given out by the CDC on how to combat the pandemic. In the profession of emergency management, one of the pillars is mitigation. Can we take that principle and use them to take proactive and preventive steps to restore trust. This conversation that we are exploring is not just about feeling good about our nation and bringing together people of opposite political ideas. As emergency managers and leaders, we need the trust of the people to do our jobs to protect lives, property, and the environment. This begs the question, can we fix it? First, we need to look at the why behind the problem.
The Erosion of Trust
The erosion of trust is not a public relations problem; it is something much deeper. In the Atlantic, David Brooks wrote a piece, "America is Having a Moral Convulsion" (October 5, 2020). In this piece, he argues that American History is driven by moments of moral convulsions.
The idea is that every 60 years, we have a significant shake-up that those outside of the power paradigm rise and take charge. If you have spent any time on social media, you see the battle of words and ideas being waged between the generations. The insults "Ok Boomer" or "snowflake" may sound like "playground" arrows. However, they are a symptom of a real war on who controls the narrative (somehow, GenX has avoided this skirmish of opposing generations). It is also a real indicator of a lack of trust in the social dialogue. We can point to how this war of words has plummeted public trust and is infecting relations among the people their governments and a range of societal institutions.
This divide has made its way into traditional media. With the political lines drawn, cable news and print media outlets are consumed mainly by people who agree with that point of view. If you are on the right of the American political spectrum, you are most likely a Fox News consumer. If you are on the left of the spectrum, MSNBC is your go-to outlet. The problem with this line that has been drawn in the sand is people now consume "information" that confirms their political and social views. People are living in an echo chamber of ideas.
This echo chamber of ideas has furthered the erosion of trust in social media, traditional media, and domestic politics. The decreased trust is not only aimed at "outsiders." The lack of trust has extended to members of the communities, and in some cases, within families, leaving a considerable void in how people see the world.
Distrust infuses public rhetoric and political debates, obstructing action in the public interest. The distrust of the political system is impacting the profession of emergency management. The cumulative distrust is undermining our ability to function and serve the people. And suppose researchers are correct that trust is easier to destroy than construct. In that case, the consequences of today's trust deficit could hamper our ability to build community resilience and have effective disaster mitigation projects approved for many years to come.
When people stop trusting the information coming from society's institutions, this dramatically shifts how daily life is conducted. The ideas of collaborative solutions to complex problems will evaporate as individuals retreat to their political safe spaces.
Tarun Khanna, a professor at Harvard Business School, points out that when citizens lack Trust, they are less likely to comply with laws and regulations, pay taxes, tolerate different viewpoints or ways of life, contribute to economic vitality, resist the appeals of demagogues, or support their neighbors. Without Trust, societies are at risk of chaos and conflict. They are less likely to create and invent. (Continuum Innovation.com 03/12/19)
Building Bridges Not Burning Them
My father was a wise man, he owned restaurants and never got involved in politics outside of he would not root for the NY Yankees until Steinbrenner was no longer part of the organization, and he loved his Buffalo Bills. He would tell me that building bridges was better than burning them. You never know when you need to get across that divide.
In the past, we could have political debates with friends over a beer and not worry that they would put our home address on blast and call our place of employment when they disagreed with us. So what is causing this divide, and why does it look like it is getting wider?
As I was researching this topic, I could not point out one cause of this American moral convolution using the term by Brooks. However, if I were to put a list together, it would look like this. In no particular order:
Public rhetoric has become toxic, and we are at a point where "if you are not with me, you are against me" attitude. I have seen this even at the local school board meetings. The poisonous rhetoric was just starting when I was a parks commissioner back in the early 2000s. Today at some local meetings, the police will have a full tactical alert in place if it gets out of hand.
The over-promising and under-delivering of public services. People expect services on demand. We saw this on display during Katrina at the Super Dome. The government was not prepared to support people. This left a wrong impression on the public's view of how emergency services can help in a crisis. The media covered a similar public opinion during Maria.
There is a sense and projected by both parties that elections are rigged. The Democrats were quick to say that the Trump election was not legitimate. The Republicans made the same claims with the 2020 election results.
A volatile media and social media climate, which contributes to the spread of disinformation and polarization, exacerbates divisions and a sense of social grievance.
How do we Restore Trust?
The simple answer is we need to be transparent. Yes simple, however, it is true. People need to have confidence in the system; government leaders need to share what it is they doing at all levels. Technology is a great equalizer and a way to have an informed public. The City of Boston has a way for the public to report potholes, graffiti, and other items that need to be addressed. This is crowdsourcing quality of life issues, and the individual that reported the problem can track the progress on the repair.
We need to bring other services online as well. Emergency management may have a presence such as a webpage or social media. However, it is very one way for most agencies at this time. We have seen how citizens reporting during a crisis has saved lives. UNESCO used the tagline in their 2020 COVID campaign "Access to Information-Saving Lives, Building Trust, Bringing Hope."
As emergency managers, we need to help bring hope and security to our communities. We cannot do that without trust. We need to be the builders of bridges in our community, lead by example by reaching out to the underserved communities, let the public be involved in the process, and make sure that we are transparent with our goals and objectives.
As Bob, the Builder, would say, "Can we Fix It? Yes, We Can!"
References
Brooks, D. (2020, October 5). Collapsing Levels of Trust Are Devastating America. The Atlantic. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/collapsing-levels-trust-are-devastating-america/616581/
Khanna, T. (2019, March 12). Developing Trust Isn't Just for Developing Countries. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.continuuminnovation.com/en/how-we-think/blog/developing-trust-isnt-just-for-developing-countries
Lord, K. M., Sawyer, D., & Ehrlichman, D. (2019, January 31). Six Ways to Repair Declining Social Trust. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/six_ways_to_repair_declining_social_trust
RAINIE, L., KEETER, S., & PERRIN, A. (2019, July 22). Americans' Trust in Government, Each Other, Leaders. Pew Research Center. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/07/22/trust-and-distrust-in-america/
Trust in government is falling – here's how we can restore it. (2017, December 12). Apolitical. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/trust-government-falling-can-stop