{"id":1983,"date":"2017-02-07T08:47:38","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T14:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/?p=1983"},"modified":"2017-02-07T08:54:22","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T14:54:22","slug":"america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"America is at a record low level of trust, but here&#8217;s why that&#8217;s not entirely bad"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 507px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/157774678\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.863905% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/157774678?et=9_zT1i6oRTJkSWi6RE_axg&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=gXjbHiEcFsAIQ6kUbZ7ZKG7pLRp157fy3UJ6_yfBIKc=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"507\" height=\"339\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>According to a new survey, American trust is down across the nation, and some believe we have to build it back quickly. Perhaps, but here\u2019s why I think this may be better news than some think.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In a piece for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/americans-dont-trust-anymore-and-thats-a-big-problem\/article\/2613926\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Washington Examiner<\/em><\/a>, Salena Zito writes about the collapse of trust among Americans. Besides the military, in which trust has grown, Americans have become leery of the media and the government. That\u2019s the best news I\u2019ve heard in quite some time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly 43 percent of people said they trust the media; a whopping 5 percent drop from last year,\u201d Zito states. \u201cGovernment came in even lower, at 41 percent; trust in military has grown, and trust in business is a bit stronger than the media and government, but not by much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of the reasons Zito cites for society\u2019s fall into distrust has to do with the failing job market and increased automation. These realities have put a lot of Americans on edge as their economic stability is threatened. Technology, especially access to the Internet, has removed the need for so many businesses, though it has created new ones. Local newspapers are closing around the country at a rapid pace as more and more people access news online, but like Zito warns, that leaves \u201cno one to hold local governments accountable.\u201d She continues:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And think about the institutional fractures in our communities; how much lead is in our water? Is that bridge I cross everyday safe to use? Why are our school systems failing our children? Why are my healthcare costs so high? Why has no one in the Catholic Church faced crime and punishment for their actions? Why do CEOs get paid so much money as their workers lose their jobs? Why do banks get bailouts but we don\u2019t?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The culture plays a part, too, as average Americans became the butt of Hollywood\u2019s jokes. We are told our ideas are outdated. We are sexist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, and phobic of things we don\u2019t even know we are phobic of yet. They are our moral betters, and we are the enemy. We are treated this way by the media, as well.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s this very cultural divide that led to the election of Donald Trump. It was why Bernie Sanders was extremely popular. Zito adds, \u201c[T]here was a comprehensive perception that all of the mainstream institutions in American culture \u2014 media, banks, government, entertainment, and business \u2014 have all behaved as a band of elitist forces stockpiling all of the monies of society and deliberately pushing them out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the silver lining: Instead of rushing to build back trust with these \u201cmainstream institutions\u201d let\u2019s put trust back where it belongs. Relying on ourselves instead of the government, media, or culture,\u00a0is the foundation of a properly self-governing society.<\/p>\n<p>Trust is good, but self reliance is better.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What the world needs now is NOT more trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2673,"featured_media":1984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>America is at a record low level of trust, but here&#039;s why that&#039;s not entirely bad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What the world needs now is NOT more trust.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America is at a record low level of trust, but here&#039;s why that&#039;s not entirely bad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What the world needs now is NOT more trust.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark Meckler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-07T14:47:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-07T14:54:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/653\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-06-at-1.32.54-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"532\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"328\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Meckler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Meckler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/\",\"name\":\"America is at a record low level of trust, but here's why that's not entirely bad\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-07T14:47:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-07T14:54:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#\/schema\/person\/e95fc54d2a84068750f5d9a181cd2421\"},\"description\":\"What the world needs now is NOT more trust.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"America is at a record low level of trust, but here&#8217;s why that&#8217;s not entirely bad\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/\",\"name\":\"Mark Meckler\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#\/schema\/person\/e95fc54d2a84068750f5d9a181cd2421\",\"name\":\"Mark Meckler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf71f8e44cbfd7951a4eb0173d2a8f27?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf71f8e44cbfd7951a4eb0173d2a8f27?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Meckler\"},\"description\":\"Mark is one of the nation\u2019s most effective grassroots activists. After he co-founded and was the national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, he founded Citizens for Self-Governance to revolutionize American government. Founded in February 2012, this grassroots initiative expands and directs the ever-growing, bipartisan self-governance movement. Mark appears regularly on wide variety of television outlets, including MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business and the BBC.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/author\/mmeckler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"America is at a record low level of trust, but here's why that's not entirely bad","description":"What the world needs now is NOT more trust.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"America is at a record low level of trust, but here's why that's not entirely bad","og_description":"What the world needs now is NOT more trust.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/","og_site_name":"Mark Meckler","article_published_time":"2017-02-07T14:47:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-07T14:54:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":532,"height":328,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/653\/2017\/02\/Screen-Shot-2017-02-06-at-1.32.54-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Mark Meckler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Meckler","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/","name":"America is at a record low level of trust, but here's why that's not entirely bad","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-07T14:47:38+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-07T14:54:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#\/schema\/person\/e95fc54d2a84068750f5d9a181cd2421"},"description":"What the world needs now is NOT more trust.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2017\/02\/america-record-low-level-trust-heres-thats-not-entirely-bad\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"America is at a record low level of trust, but here&#8217;s why that&#8217;s not entirely bad"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/","name":"Mark Meckler","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#\/schema\/person\/e95fc54d2a84068750f5d9a181cd2421","name":"Mark Meckler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf71f8e44cbfd7951a4eb0173d2a8f27?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf71f8e44cbfd7951a4eb0173d2a8f27?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Mark Meckler"},"description":"Mark is one of the nation\u2019s most effective grassroots activists. After he co-founded and was the national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, he founded Citizens for Self-Governance to revolutionize American government. Founded in February 2012, this grassroots initiative expands and directs the ever-growing, bipartisan self-governance movement. Mark appears regularly on wide variety of television outlets, including MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox Business and the BBC.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/author\/mmeckler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}