Power and Trust- A Lost Case

“Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to.”

– Julianne Moore

Well, this ain’t just love. It happens everywhere- Be it in politics, administration, business, and relationships. When you give someone power over you, and expect things to NOT go wrong ever, perpetually- you are being stupid. As simple as that.

Politics: We elect politicians ourselves. Some countries like India have a pretty messed up system of election, some countries like the US spend months of time and billions of money in the process. But is there one country in the world that is totally, absolutely (or even relatively) satisfied with their leaders? People are dissatisfied everywhere because some leaders of nations bring wars, some bring disasters through their stupidity, some have able, accomplished minds but no voices, some are there just for personal gain- the list just goes on. Now, we gave them the power. We trusted them to work for the common good while we are ourselves occupied with our own trades.

Administration: More often than not, we see that management of entities- government, corporate or otherwise- is ‘chosen’ by the people that make up that entity. Sometimes, it may be through a vote, sometimes through opinion polls, sometimes through other means of seeking opinion. And what happens? People are largely satisfied with their choice for quite some time; the policies they make look intelligent and robust. And then discontent starts brewing beneath the surface. Inadequate raise, refused transfer, rejected leave, bypassed promotion- are just the very obvious reasons.

Business: This is a much simpler game, though with a direct impact on our everyday lives. You trust your customers with credit, your supplier trusts you with credit, the banks and investors trust you with their money, you trust your business with your time and effort- and most often all these don’t exist simultaneously. You give power over your business to others- in a way, others have more control on your business than you have yourself. So sooner or later, this equilibrium is going to be inevitably upset for reasons within and beyond control, and we are usually very quick in finding a scapegoat.

Relationships: Hah! The most obvious, yet the least believed, because we refuse to accept that it is as bad as it is. Hand over your heart in a platter, trust they’d keep it safe and it would be disposed of in any of a zillion ways. In most parts of the world, children trust their parents to be taking the best decisions for them, parents believe that their children will continue to be the innocent little angels who are incapable of wronging anybody, friends trust one another with their wildest of secrets and lovers- don’t even ask!! Although things go on fine for a large part of our lives, aren't there children that regret the choices they have (or have not) made? Aren't all geriatric homes full? Aren't the best of kids turning out to be the worst of adults? It isn't rare that secrets cease to be secrets a while after sharing with the ‘close’ friend. And listen around, you can hear the muffled noise of the many shattering hearts.

Well, people can’t go on being good forever- the universe is too chaotic for that. Circumstances arise when people have to make trade-offs in their choices; these could be in favour of anybody depending on a bunch of ‘circumstantial’ variables.

What should we do? Well, if I had that figured out, I’d make a killer of a life teaching psychology and metaphysics and what not to unsuspecting students someplace warm…

-MaCh,

North of the Wall (Winter is already here)