Sunday, May 28, 2006

The decline in belief in all our institutions

In the past few generations we have seen much which makes us lose faith in our institutions. We see corporate chieftains found guilty of falsifying financials. Politicians seem to compete in taking bribes and we see others do every thing they can to protect colleagues. Doctors hide incompetence, the military engages in cover-ups of incompetence or illegal actions. Enron is not alone.

We wonder why voting turnout keeps dropping, yet we see that a political contribution is more valued than a vote. We are exposed to political ads which tell us that each candidate is corrupt or incompetent. Drug companies withhold evidence of dangerous side-effects. Tobacco companies denied that cigarettes caused lung cancer, energy companies that power generation or gasoline powered cars are causing global warming. Journalists fabricate stories. Perhaps this has always happened, but we now have a constant stream of evidence of it. Our faith in the good intentions and integrity of all the institutions which make our society work has been eroded.

We need to demand higher standards from all who lead us.

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