Can we trust the trust survey's--Or... is something else afoot?

The 2013 Edelman global trust survey says we are more trusting of government and corporations than we were in 2012 and 2011!

Released in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting, the overall trust index rose to 57 from 51 in 2012 and 55 in 2011.

"Who," I wondered... "did they survey--to get such a positive and encouraging result?" 

I suppose I was trying to reconcile what is happening in the daily global news arena with the result of the trust survey. Mostly I see otherwise stable countries erupting in protest against the chronic corruption the Politico-corporate alliance routinely indulge in. This revolting behavior hardly supports the increased claimed trust factor.

Survey Shows Uptick of Global Trust in Government, Business

It might strike some that the public’s view of major institutions is in perpetual decline, but not so, according to one measure.

Global public trust in government, media and business is actually up, according to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, published annually by the public relations firm Edelman.

For government, the “trust a great deal” total was 16%, up from 12% in 2012. For business, it was 17%, up from 14%. For media, 17%, up from 15%, and for non government organizations, 22%, up from 19%.

Perhaps, I thought... the questions may have been asked backwards, such as "Do you trust government and corporations will increase their corrupt practices in 2013?" This would have explained an uptick in the score, since presumably most folks would have answered affirmatively. Apparently this was not the case though.

At that point in time I stopped wondering and shelved the conundrum as a typical illustration of statistical analysis based on surveys... if result bears those out then I suppose we could say they were a darned good guess, but not very useful in the real world of causes and effects.

While I was contemplating the perplexing trust survey results, I was perusing another article titled:

Global protest grows as citizens lose faith in politics and the state

The myriad protests from Istanbul to São Paulo have one thing in common - growing dissent among the young, educated and better-off protesting against the very system that once enriched them. And therein lies the danger for governments...

The article goes on to explain that the citizens of the world are getting cheesed off with their governance who seem to be unresponsive to their citizens needs and wants... in favor of catering to interests of their own prioritization often shrouded in dark clouds of unsavory, self-serving, corrupt or even larcenous behaviours.

Objection to this by constituents seems quite reasonable, if one supports fair and equitable practises.

The article goes on to say the "new revolutionary" phenomena is far different in execution and goals than prior civil unrest movements and tries to rationalize what is going on according to a selection of social behavioral experts who each have their own slant on causal issues.

For me it is quite simple, although the protests seem incohesive and without leadership or well formed agendas they do all seem to have one thing in common--What people don't want as opposed to what they do want.

Mainstream media demands a dissenting cause have a well defined agenda of demands for something, and unless there is a spokesman for the cause, who they can grill for the list of demands... they write the affair off as an incoherent rabble, a rabble without cause or a group of rebels without specific purpose.

Often they select the most dubious and inarticulate member of the event and feature them as "typical" rabble, mainly to prove their own point.

What they miss entirely is the trust factor. Trust is an extremely important attribute in any relationship.

What people don't want in their relationship with their employee... the civil servant... is to be cheated on , lied to, abused by, deceived by, sold out by, ripped off by, harrassed by or otherwise subjugated unfairly by their governance.

For me it is as simple as that.

Why Are People So Distrustful of Big Government?

The NSA revelations don't come in a vacuum: There's a long history of abuses carried out in the name of national security. (The governments latest and torrid affair)

The affairs of government indicate a solid track record of infidelity, unfortunately, therapy is ineffective.

When trust is restored in the ranks of the elitist self-anointed power mongers--so will socioeconomic stability...

... Until then expect a population scorned... and a growing movement of folks who don't want corruption as a standard.

It is not about this party or that party, it is about HONESTY!




Stay tuned...