Living in a Culture of Mistrust!

When I started writing a blog I knew I was making public a lot of information about myself. As everyone knows, that information seems to go out into space and be suspended there forever. So I thought about what I was getting into and obviously, decided to carry on.

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But we all know, or should, that reams of information about our  identity is  gathered by both government and business.  Every year we fill out tax returns, check agree on 'terms and conditions', are monitored in more and more locations by surveillance cameras, identification chips are embedded in ID cards or products we purchase. Even our cell phones have tracking devices. Then think of all the emails we write or the tons of information available on our social networks. In Canada, at least in theory, all of this information can only be collected and disclosed with our knowledge or consent. Wow! And we trust them?

So I had to ask myself recently why there was such a big fuss about recent new laws allowing CSIS ("seessiss") to get tough with those who promote terrorism on-line? As an aside, I start getting confused with all the new  acronyms slipping into our news these days - ISIS, CSIS, CSEC, CCHCS - well you know what I mean! CSEC's (Communications Security Establishment Canada) new home in Ottawa dubbed the 'sky palace', is the most expensive government building ever built in Canada at a price of $1.2-billion!

There certainly has been a 'knee-jerk reaction"  on both sides the issue. Will the new bill override certain privacy limits or make some more reluctant to speak openly, or even make hypocrites of  politicians who push for free-speech when visiting abroad? God forbid, is this even scare tactics and election politics? Unfortunately,"Canadians rate politicians as among the most mistrusted professionals in Canada....". (Ryerson University Nov. 5, 2014.) And Democracy Watch even suggests that only 13% of adult Canadians trust politicians to do the right thing most of the time! "If the people cannot trust their  government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost" Barack Obama.

All of this immediately summons to mind a very important question that goes far beyond politics - who do we trust? One thing for sure, we can't live without trust even though it does have its limits. Indeed, a total lack of mistrust would indicate a serious psychological problem. This is especially true of interpersonal trust. A difficulty we need to be aware of is that our brains don't take very long to determine trustworthiness! Gut feelings seem to play a role here. There are those who would argue that these feelings are somehow related to the ancient 'fight-flight' experience of our ancestors. But as we all know sometimes first impressions are not always the best, especially now when we live in a culture of mistrust!

This old octogenarian believes that trust is much more than just feelings, beliefs or even a philosophical notion. Trust is an action. It's what we do and how we treat or are treated by others. It's knowing that we are there for others and others are there for us. I guess what the military might say - we've got their back and they have ours.

Even if our politicians or our 'bosses' no longer believe that they are there for us and have our backs, at least we know that family and friends, as busy as they are, are worthy of our trust and friendship. Without trust we are truly alone in the world and without trust, there is no love.

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week

Did You Know ?

Bristol-Myers Squibb has a new drug for skin cancer. It's called OPDIVO and it will cost the patient $12,500 a month! That should motivate you to use lots of sun screen lotion when out in the sun any time of the year.