The Wages of Cynicism

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How cynical have I become?

When I hear that some racist incident or another happened on campus, I just assume it was a hoax. 

When a Republican is accused of rape, sexual abuse, or jaywalking, I assume it is a hoax, except perhaps the jaywalking. They probably did that. 

Tales of corruption don’t shock me anymore. I am skeptical of everything I am told by “experts.” When somebody in the media or the government tells me something is for my own good, I check my wallet and then flee in the other direction. 

On the one hand, cynicism has become another word for common sense. On the other, it is disastrous that we have gotten to this point in our society. 

I don’t mean sad or unfortunate, but downright disastrous. 

There are a lot of reasons why Western societies have thrived over the past 300 or so years, but one of the big reasons is that social trust was built up during this time and helped transform the world. Without amazing levels of trust, the free market and all the good things that come with it cannot thrive. 

To understand this, think about transatlantic trade in the 17th century. Trips were months long across the ocean, with gold or other goods flowing in one direction and the same in the other. The wealth that went back and forth was in terms of the times massive, yet people were able to trade because social trust and institutions were built up that people were willing to set a lifetime’s worth of wealth out to sea and expect that they would be compensated. 

Social trust, not just legal repercussions, makes a modern, peaceful life possible. If law enforcement were the only reason why people weren’t wary of working with each other, society would grind to a halt. 

Social trust is the difference between a failed society and a prosperous one, and our elites have spent so much social capital trying to seize and maintain power that we are rapidly exhausting our supply of it. 

When social trust evaporates, we begin to rely on alternative ways of protecting ourselves and our property and our ability to trade and hence improve our lives diminishes dramatically. 

We see the consequences all around us. Stores are locking up their goods behind plexiglass, people are getting more afraid to use public transport because it is unsafe, our streets are dirty and filled with addicts, and the open border has created chaos and anger. 

I’ve quit getting the flu vaccine because I don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies. It’s not that I am scared of it, but I don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies either. Just like I don’t trust any science that impacts public policy. There is too much money and power at stake to trust without verifying. 

This makes the world worse in countless ways. The value of experts, if they are trustworthy, is that they can form a vital part of the division of labor. The finer the division of labor, the more efficient the economy. If I have to spend hours figuring out that the public health people are liars and hence I need to comb through research, then my time and energy are deployed in inefficient ways. 

If only I could trust them. But I can’t, just as I can’t trust the Pravda Media. 

Cynicism may be the common sense attitude, but unfortunately, the need for so much of it is undermining our society. 

All I want for Christmas is trustworthy experts.