Mistrust in American Institutions

What is truth?

I remember watching Walter Cronkite deliver the nightly news. If Cronkite reported it, you could take that news to the bank. Rock solid. Not skewed with any ideological bent. We trusted Walter to tell us the truth.

But did he?

We had faith in our institutions. We trusted our figureheads, at least that’s how it felt to this somewhat naive teen. I just figured, why would our leaders lie to us.

I miss those days. Everybody stayed in their lanes. You didn’t worry about news organizations banding together to support a particular narrative or political party. There were no social media sites suspected of suppressing free expression. Our president and Congress existed to serve the people.

We’d emerged from two world wars and a nasty depression into the feel-good decade of the 1950s. Then the fabric ripped apart.

Assassinations. A highly unpopular war. Social and ideological revolutions. We’ve been tearing apart our national consciousness ever since, especially since 2000.

Maybe we were living in Shangri-la before the emergence of the 24/7 news cycle, unaware of the special interests who’ve been advancing their agendas below the surface all along. Forgive my cynicism.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe there’s much to celebrate in these United States, advancements too numerous to list here. But something is very wrong too. The country is more fractured than it’s been since the Civil War, progressives battling conservatives, each miles apart in their positions.

We’ve withdrawn into silos, each believing our particular tribe stands in the light of day, and the other remains shrouded in darkness.

Trust in our institutions is at all-time lows. The Pew Research Center reports that less than 20% of Americans trust the federal government to do what is right “just about always.” That’s (1%), or “most of the time” (15%). This compared to 75% in 1958 who trusted the government to do the right thing.

In a recent Gallup poll, when asked whether they agreed with the statement that national news organizations do not intend to mislead, only 25% agreed. Fifty percent said they disagreed. On top of that, we’ve lost faith in our school boards, public health agencies, and legal system.

Younger Americans are turning to online sites like TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese, for their information. There’s a strong case being made that China is using this tool to turn our citizens against each other, to create discord. Calls to ban TikTok here are gaining steam as we heard about young people posting videos celebrating Osama Bin Ladin and siding with Hamas’s terrorist actions on Oct. 7. We’ve shuddered at the students attending our most prestigious universities who’ve marched in support of Hamas.

Some time ago, my son Matthew asked, “Dad, how do you figure out the truth, when one media outlet says one thing, and another completely contradicts that?”

You have to work harder if you want to find something close to the truth, I told Matt. You can’t rely on just one source. We must observe what each side is saying, balance them together, and come to our own conclusions.

But what’s the fallout from all this information chaos?

Political polarization and gridlock.

Less compromise and collaboration.

Lower levels of civic engagement.

A decline in social cohesion.

Mistrust in the fairness and legitimacy of our police and justice system.

The rise of alternative and partisan news sources serving as ideological mouthpieces attempting to shut down dialogue altogether.

Waves of populism.

Less credibility in scientific organizations and public health agencies.

The list goes on. We’re seeing evidence of this all around us, and most of us have grown weary of it. Thankfully, we’re also seeing some glimmers of hope. Our institutional sickness is now fueling demands for transparency, accountability, and change.

Examples…Elon Musk turning X (which is formerly Twitter) into a platform that now allows all voices to be heard. The emergence of podcasts and other sources of new media, challenging the stranglehold that cable, print, and network news has had on information flow in this country.

Where this will lead is anyone’s guess.

The central inquiry posed in my ramblings here has long occupied the minds of societal, religious, and military leaders. The New Testament tells us that prior to his crucifixion, Jesus told Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judaea, that he had come to testify to the truth. To this, Pilate cynically retorted, “What is truth?”

Earlier, the itinerate rabbi answered this question when he told his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life…”

A subject for another time and place.