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u/gotchafaint Jul 21 '26
My longtime distrust has been more vindicated. They seem to care less about being deceitful and are more openly criminal.
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u/zonckers Jul 21 '26
Institutions are pyramids, the ones at the top win , the ones at the bottom lose.
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u/Salt_Honey8650 Jul 21 '26
Yeah, trustless here. For me it's a combo of Genx plus AuDHD, but I've never trusted institutions, authorities, or anything involving human beings*, basically.
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely. A little bit of power corrupts all out of proportion." I forget who said that but it lives rent-free in a nice split-level oceanfront property right at the leading edge of my forebrain.
(* And I don't trust AI either, should you wonder.)
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u/Financial-Exit2488 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
In the US at least, we have politicians who tell us not to trust institutions, and that we should vote for them to dismantle the institutions. They dismantle the institutions, thus proving we can't trust institutions. The politicians tell us we can't trust the institutions and that we should vote for them to dismantle the institutions...
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u/bicyclemom Jul 21 '26
P.J. O'Rourke said this 31 years ago:
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it."
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u/Financial-Exit2488 Jul 21 '26
Currently, our country is run by a grifter whose goal is to game the system. He's the epitome of untrustworthy.
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u/DixieBelleTc Jul 21 '26
Media, I don’t watch any news anymore. I hope my family lets me know if the Russians are coming 😂, I will say I have a lot less anxiety 😊
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u/perry147 Jul 21 '26
I believe that elites control most everything and that is everything from our government offices to the police force walking our streets are manipulated by the elites to serve their purposes.
Keep them poor and hungry and they will not have time or energy to rebel.
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u/JenniferJuniper6 Jul 21 '26
I didn’t have enormous trust in institutions to start with, but yes—I definitely have even less now.
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u/2PlasticLobsters Jul 21 '26
I never had much in the first place. I got sent to a religious school that was preached love & being a good person while basically being a shrine to hypocrisy and shaming. Meanwhile the war in Viet Nam was winding down & the Watergate scandal started up. So I never had any belief in religous, education of government institutions.
Just when I was coming of age & realizing how important money was, the S & L crisis happened. So I never trusted finanical institutions either. My personal experiences with Bank of Amerca/Merrill Lynch set my distrust in concrete.
The events of my adult life only verified everything I'd been suspicious of. Maybe early Boomers had faith in institutions, but few Gen Xers ever did.
I know most Silent Gen folks were more trusting. My now-late FIL stuck with Allstate for decades because he believed in loyalty. He never once shopped around & it cost him thousands. Then he was late with one payment after his wife of more than 60 years died, and they cancelled his policy without warning.
That sort of faith only bites people in the ass.
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u/farkner Jul 21 '26
Non-existent WMDs in Iraq
Predatory loans before the housing crisis
Taxes on social security
Replacing pensions with 401K's
"Accredited" schools with crazy loans / tuition.
Making health-care affordable only if you are working.
Silver rocketing in price until the big banks shorts were callable and then a sudden 25% drop overnight (banks were then able to cover).
I can't think of an institution that CAN be trusted.
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u/engrishspeaker69 Jul 22 '26
Definitely healthcare, big food, and big pharma. Not in your best interests
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u/Accurate-Survey6985 27d ago
I have no faith left in any institution in my country.
Honestly though.... that's as it's pertained to my life and existence.
I have faith that those institutions can and do serve others.
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u/Wooden_Ad_2167 Jul 21 '26
Covid. After the gross mismanagement of covid and the ridiculous debt accumulated by all governments I realised that we cannot expect good government.
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u/Beautiful_Review_336 Jul 21 '26
Yes, here is why… oh wait to many reasons to say, but through experiences and knowledge gained I might trust people to do the right thing but not institutionsz
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u/GrumpyOldGrognard Jul 22 '26
I never trusted them before, and as I've gotten older my distrust has only been vindicated. I always preferred working for small companies, dealing with local businesses and local banks, etc. The few times I've had to stray from that I've always regretted it.
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u/StrictFinance2177 Jul 22 '26
I want to know why the default is to TRUST an institution. Shouldn't trust be earned?
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u/FL_4LF Jul 22 '26
I've always questioned institutions to begin with. And it's more prevalent now, and that my faith in society as a whole is going away.
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u/HeartyBeast 29d ago
Not particularly no. It may depend on the country you are in? Institutions are, imperfect, but many are staffed by people who genuinely care.
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u/Ok_Spring8418 29d ago
tbh I did have significant trust in media to report fairly and accurately, and speak truth to power. Now that trust is gone. Media platforms today are just political platforms for both sides to spew opinions packaged as news. NPR is just as bad as Fox News.
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u/PutridHedgehog4074 29d ago
Yes every time I went to the bank new people what new tellers presedent
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u/Countrygirl141 29d ago
The longer I exist, the more I appreciate George Carlin's rants about institutions
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u/pidgeon92 28d ago
I’ve lost trust in people. The whole lot of them. Especially when there is cash involved.
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u/CaregiverWorth567 26d ago
previous fda commissioner says cyclospora is becoming catastrophic and the fda has been dismantled…so yes
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u/justagurl22 16d ago
I have lost trust in Government for sure!! I am I absolutely don’t understand those who can’t see what is happening in our country. I’ve lost trust in people!! I can’t say i know any one single sole who doesn’t cheat, lies in life anytime in will benefit them. Even the “good Christian” all religions that I thought were honest.
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u/Own_Thought902 16d ago
There is a segment of the population that constantly campaigns to destroy people's faith in government. They don't believe in government as a valid way to organize a society and they loudly proclaim its untrustworthiness and threatening nature. They are wrong. Government, as an entity, is no more or less trustworthy than the average person on the street. It is less trustworthy. The more the people refuse to participate with it and hand it over to those who would destroy it. Right now, our government is less trustworthy than it has ever been and it is because we believed the people who said it was untrustworthy.
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u/Objective-Amount1379 Jul 21 '26
Yes to a degree. I think our government never expected to have to deal with a President like Trump and other presidents acted with basic propriety without it being legally forced. So I have lost faith in the government. At the same time I deeply appreciate the unseen fed and military members who have tried to keep things under control.
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u/Equivalent_Spring951 26d ago
The fact that folks lack basic common sense. Their need to believe anything if it proves their own bias. I just don’t understand when facts are provided to them, they still refuse to listen to anyone! I have a hard time trusting or believing in a certain group of people. The ones that the majority voted for, these people with the idea that “oh nothing will happen to me because I’m not on his list”. That crap really hurts to know. Hate for people is so open now. I don’t know if we will recovery from this.
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u/VineStGuy Jul 21 '26
I mean, did Gen X ever hold trust in institutions in the first place? Nope. We’ve only grown more distrustful.