In a democracy, people are free to speak out about the issues of the day. Lately, however, a disturbing trend has appeared that, even when a decision has been made by duly elected leaders, there is a segment of society that refuses to accept the decision and continues to cause civil strife; one explanation is that people in democracies have lost trust in their leaders.
The trend is a danger to civil society leading to the foreseeable consequence of a breakdown of civil society and economic order. As an example, let us look at the current malaise in the United States and see whether Cayman has gone down or is going down the same path. In conclusion, I shall ask the question “where do we go from here?”.
In the United States, trust is the glue that holds a democratic society together.
The current malaise in the United States results from a breach of that trust, to name a few examples, by governments, financial intermediaries, senior executives of listed corporations, educators and parents.
Governments – (1) almost every level of government in the United States has allowed the public sector to grow so as to be unaffordable to the diminishing number of taxpayers. As this unrestricted growth was happening, the politicians in questions were purporting to do good – exactly the opposite of what has happened; is it any wonder that the electorate does not trust the political class?
Financial Intermediaries – Financial intermediaries have lost the trust of the investors who have to use their services. As John C. Bogle pointed out in his book Enough, some financial intermediaries have enriched themselves but have produced little return for investors after the costs of financial intermediation, taxes and inflation are factored into returns. Estate attorneys have a saying “let’s not fritter away the assets of this estate on the beneficiaries”; in my opinion, many financial intermediaries have gladly implemented those sentiments.
Senior Executives of Listed Corporations – Senior executives of many corporations listed on stock exchanges have lost the trust of the small private investor who has to buy shares on the open market in after-tax dollars. These senior executives, on top of the sizeable salary, bonus and benefits of which ordinary workers can only dream, have received millions of shares by way of stock options to “align their interests with those of shareholders”. I don’t know who first wrote those immortal lines, but senior executives should erect a monument in tribute; it must be the same person who coined the phrase found in every management information circular prepared for the annual meeting, “human resources are our most important asset”.
Educators – Educators have lost the trust of the parents who send their children to school, especially in the public school system. In the 1950s and early 1960s, a graduate of high school could read and write, do math at a functional standard and was employable. Then, educators did away with teaching mathematics using existing algorithms and methods and came up with new math (which is incomprehensible to children and parents alike) along with “child-centred learning”, which assumes that every child is intellectually curious. Of course, the teaching of English grammar was done away with; the result is like an architect who does not know how to construct a building but can make a good-looking drawing of one. Why is it that, with all of the modem tools and gadgets at our disposal, a high school graduate today is not employable and we have to have remedial English classes at universities or in the workplace? Why is it that we pretend that every child is going to go to university and ignore the fact what a lot of children would be better off learning a trade and being able to make a living? Why are we using social promotion when lessons have not been mastered?
Parents – In the same way that educators have lost the trust of parents, parents have lost the trust of educators by not assuming responsibility for the disciplining of their children and not holding their children accountable for their misconduct. The cult of putting children on a pedestal as if each one was a genius has resulted in unmanageable youth running wild in the school system with teachers, if they are lucky, controlling only their classrooms with students controlling the hallways and common areas. Heaven help the janitor who requests that a child pick up a piece of garbage just thrown on the floor; his tires will be slashed.
The Cayman Islands – It is evident that the same malaise that is present in the United States is alive and well in Cayman. We have an oversized public sector with benefits for which they don’t pay; as a result, the government has a financial crisis. The private sector, which pays for the public sector, is shrinking and increasingly overburdened with various fees. The lack of trust by parents in their educators and by educators in the parents of children is readily evident. Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It seems to me that if the “new math” doesn’t work, and it is evident that it doesn’t, why don’t we go back to the “old math” and the “old grammar” and the “good old discipline” instead of political correctness?
Where do we go from here? Trust, once diminished or lost, is very difficult to regain.
For example, if a child goes home every day and hears that politicians are idiots, how can that child respect the politicians who are discussed and held up as role models in civics class? I believe that responsibility and accountability, not to mention honesty and integrity, should come back into fashion. Politicians must act in a responsible way when they are spending your money and must be held accountable for that spending. Financial intermediaries must disclose the true costs of financial intermediation; honesty and integrity would go a long way in this area. Educators must be held accountable for results or, more correctly today, lack of results. Parents must take responsibility for the misconduct of their children and be held accountable for their failure to do so. Children must be taught to behave responsibly and be held accountable for their failure to do so. Above all, each of us must look at the effects of our conduct with the growing realisation that, if we continue down the current path, our loss of trust in each other and in our institutions could destroy our democratic society. The current malaise could turn into much worse which would be disastrous for all of us.
Paul Simon
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