Hello 2012! Here is a toast to trust

2012 kicks off with thoughts of Maya. Maya from the land of the marble elephants, Mayas with their end-of-the-world prophecy, and the most critical of them all, the maya of trust.

As India wakes up to a new year, trust appears to belong more to the world of maya, or illusion, than the real world. No one trusts anyone anymore. The UPA does not trust the opposition. The opposition does not trust the government. The Congress does not trust its allies. One ally gets away with saying “sad, sad, sad” with more glee and rhythm than the opposition. The government is wary of activists. Activists are wary of the government, and of one another. The aam admi distrusts the khaas admi. The khaas admi calls the former the ‘street’ if s/he is in good mood, and the ‘mob’ otherwise. Being one of the mob is not cool, being an usher of ‘mobocracy’ even less so, but flash mob? That is a different kettle of fish — chic, and guaranteed to win plaudits. Some enterprising youngsters in Nagpur are reportedly planning a flash mob — a mass dance — in honour of Anna Hazare, who made corruption as much of a talking point as cricket the past year. Some view Anna with deep suspicion, holding him guilty of not only leading the aam admi/aurat down dark and dangerous paths, but also of feeding them pooris.

India and Pakistan have been predictable — their trust deficit remains. A sizeable number of Indians have more faith in Pakistani foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s stylish Birkin bag than in its owner. Trust is a bit like the dressing without which many a dish would be inedible. It is the lubricant without which it would be impossible to achieve any of the goals that India has set for itself — be it in the political or economic arena or on the international stage.

Last week, Parliament offered a vivid glimpse of the lack of trust among our elected representatives. But the malaise is not confined to politicians. Violation of trust is visible in many other places. When a patient goes to a hospital, s/he trusts the hospital authorities have safety systems in place and working. Someone boarding a train trusts the railways to take him/her to a destination in safety. S/he does not expect to be the victim of an accident because there has been little maintenance of rail tracks or in upgrading and manning railway crossings. And yet, this is the reality on the ground. More than 90 people died in the fire that ravaged a Kolkata hospital last year. Over 1,200 people have died in train accidents in India over the past five years. Accidents at unmanned crossings account for roughly half the deaths.

Why do we need to restore trust in the public sphere? Because lack of trust leads to each one operating only on the basis of his/her narrow self interest without care or concern for anyone else. In the long term, this slows down the concerned individual as well as a society. American social scientist Francis Fukuyama flagged the importance of trust not only as a social virtue but also as a tool for creating prosperity. The greatest economic efficiency, he argued, was not necessarily the outcome of rational self-interested individuals but rather by groups of individuals who, because of a pre-existing moral community, are able to work together effectively.

Fukuyama divided societies on the basis of trust. Only ‘high-trust’ societies permit and sustain the development of modern capitalist structures, like multinationals and global stock exchanges.

‘Low-trust’ cultures depend more on the extended family to build commercial, social and political networks. As a result, companies in a low-trust society are either tiny, family-run shows or large, often corrupt, state-operated behemoths. In Fukuyama’s eyes, Japan and the US were examples of high trust societies. China, Italy exemplified the opposite.

Since Fukuyama wrote his tome 16 years ago, a lot has changed. There has been erosion of trust in many rich countries, seen as ‘high-trust’ societies, while China has evolved. Countries whose politics and business are not aligned with public interest, and where those calling the shots have lost the public’s trust, are on decline. But the underlying truth of Fukuyama’s theory remains valid: high trust is one of the defining characteristics of an advanced economy and society.

So, here is a toast to trust. Let 2012 be the year when India makes a conscious resolve to bring back trust in public institutions. An emerging power that seeks to take its place in the high table has no other choice.

The author is a Delhi-based writerl inbox@dnaindia.net