Frustrated citizens have tried to fill the vacuum. Like-minded “followers” and “friends” feed us news online; people sometimes barter on eBay rather than bow to big corporations; and parents increasingly homeschool their children rather than expose them to failing public schools and unsafe streets. But this is coping, not institutional adaptation. And sociologists say we need the control that institutions provide: It’s how things get done.
When people trust their institutions, they’re better able to solve common problems. Research shows that school principals are much more likely to turn around struggling schools in places where people have a history of working together and getting involved in their children’s education. Communities bonded by friendships formed at church are more likely to vote, volunteer, and perform everyday good deeds like helping someone find a job. And governments find it easier to persuade the public to make sacrifices for the common good when people trust that their political leaders have the community’s best interests at heart. “Institutions — even dysfunctional ones — are why we don’t run amok in the woods,” Hansen says.
Still, no metrics exist to measure life without institutions, because they’ve been around as long as humankind. The first institution was the first family. The tribe was the first community. The first tribe’s leader was the first politician, and its elders were the first legislature. Its guards, the first police force. Its storyteller, a teacher. Humans are coded to create communities, and communities beget institutions.
What if, in the future, they don’t? People could disconnect, refocus inward, and turn away from their social contract. Already, many are losing trust. If society can’t promise benefits for joining it, its members may no longer feel bound to follow its rules. But is the rise of disillusionment inexorable? Can institutions regain their mojo? History offers hope, but Whitmire’s story, and the story of Muncie, say no.
— Ron Fournier & Sophie Quinton, “How Americans Lost Trust in Our Greatest Institutions”, The Atlantic, Apr 20, 2012
The full text of this article (“How Americans Lost Trust in Our Greatest Institutions”) can be found here.
We are currently having a full service on the first Sunday of each month, and discussing a different short reading each of the remaining Sundays.
On Sunday, 29 September, we will open with a very brief service and chalice lighting, after which Robert Helfer will guide us through our discussion. This week’s reading is Ron Fournier & Sophie Quinton’s 2012 article “How Americans Lost Trust in Our Greatest Institutions“. I encourage all to read the full source of the excerpt included in this announcement.
All are welcome to participate.
**If you wish to join by ZOOM and do not already have the link, please email us at westforkuu@gmail.com**
Please Join us for Worship.
Our services are Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on ZOOM and in person at the Progressive Women’s Association Event Center, 305 Washington Ave. in downtown Clarksburg, behind the Courthouse.
Children are welcome. The building is wheelchair accessible, with an accessible restroom. You may park in the lot on the west side of the building; DO NOT PARK in the Washington Avenue pay lot. Please enter through the door at the back on the west side of the building.
A coffee hour, a time for discussion and socializing, follows from the end of the service until 12:00 noon. More about us.
If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.
Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302
West Fork Unitarian Universalists 