Who Can You Trust?

This week I share some recent poll results that makes me ask, “who can I trust?” An investigation by the Pew Research Center yielded some poll numbers that should make all of us take note. The poll noted: “a perfect storm of conditions associated with distrust of government- a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials.” With that said I can’t think of much good news. It seems that we, as a nation, have lost confidence in those whom we have elevated to leadership. The Pew poll reveals some shocking news- only 22 percent of American citizens say that they trust the government to do the right thing “just about always or most of the time.” While most of us might react “I could have told you that!” it is a very sad commentary on the current situation. According to this poll we have to conclude that 88 percent of Americans don’t trust the government to do “the right thing.” What should we make of these numbers?

The first thing we have to conclude is simple- there is a wide gap between what the government does and what Americans want. No matter what your political ideas are, it is hard to refute these numbers- we have become a nation that lives in distrust. Those of us who believe that the government should represent the people have become disappointed with our leadership. As a side issue I think that one other fact emerges- we do not trust those who should be watching out for us. We do not believe the constant “spin” that we hear on issues. We do not assume that what we hear or read is true. As sad as this sounds we have a real crisis of trust. It is good to be skeptical but it is not good to live with the knowledge that the vast majority of Americans have no expectation of our leaders “doing the right thing.”

With this said I answer my own question—who can you trust? Trust yourself! It takes a lot of work but trust yourself! Read, think, question! Remember when self reliance was a value that people treasured? Remember when people were willing to be responsible for their actions rather than waiting to be “bailed out?” Remember when debate used to be described as “healthy?” Remember when people used to say “if it’s in the paper it must be true?” Remember when people thought for themselves? All of these things now seem like just “memories.” Sometimes it seems we have become too lazy to think for ourselves but I think it’s time to get “back in shape.”

There are so many issues facing America at this moment: terrorism, the economy, energy, deficit spending, immigration, and the list goes on. Every day the news is just too much to absorb! We are overloaded with challenges and overloaded with people telling us what we should do about them! Take a deep breath…. decide what you think …. trust your own opinion. If we can’t be a nation that trusts its government let’s try to become a nation of people who trust themselves.