Excellent post as usual, Mohit! I wonder though, how much does the homogeneous nature (or lack thereof) of a society play a role in building trust? Studies have shown it is easier to trust someone who looks like me and talks like me and goes to the same places of worship as I do. India is anything but. Even the high trust societies of the west, first built their institutions and norms in a purely homogenous society, where the "other" was never even considered to exist, let alone have a systemic structure to support them. Non majority equality rights in the west came decades after the establishment of societal norms. The whole immigration debate is founded on this distrust and what "they" will do to "our" society!
As with you, the literature I've read points to greater trust in homogenous societies, topped by the Nordics.
But others can get their with strong, committed leadership. That I am conflicted by, as in the case of Singapore, which adopted draconian codes of civil conduct.
Singapore is a great counterpoint, but a rarity, no? Also, as fantastic as it is, the overall track record of "strong, committed" leadership is not the greatest!
Indian's are capable of trust, when presented with systems and institutions that work. Take metro, for example. We don't trust each other, because we can not trust each other without strong institutional backing.
1. i first thought this post is about the south london area of Tooting :)
2. from the last data point i have (mid 2023) ~75% of indian ecommerce is COD. the number only goes higher if you exclude top brands (amazon / flipkart).
Thanks for the data point on COD. I had some numbers from investee companies, which are in the 55 to 60% range, which aligned with ChatGPT interrogation. Didn't want to overstate the case.
I was reflecting on my professional experience, and found that large organisations behave in a similar way. That systems and processes have been in place because they don't trust individuals with information and access. That percolates to individuals not trusting each other, and playing zero sum games.
We have a long journey from Social Darwinism to Mutual Aid, though I sure as hell think it is worth it in the long run.
But you interact with banks. The forms are due to severe risk aversion and lack of trust. They don't help, but they give the illusion of safety to the bureaucrat who makes them. The middle class suffers while the really wealthy ignore them. :-)
Thank you, as usual for a thought provoking article. I like your style of weaving personal experiences with profound concepts.
India is a low-trust society because of the experiences we have daily. "Will be there is 5 minutes" is a standard phrase for a duration stretching from 5 to 60 minutes, weddings which start hours after "7.30pm sharp" printed in the invitation card, cabs which cancel, autos which do not follow the metre, houses which are not built on-time, doctors who make you wait for hours after your appointment time..the list is endless.
Like you mentioned, we can all make a start in our own lives by increasing or "say-do" ratio - saying what we do and doing what we say.
Our low capability low capacity government adds to the low trust in our society. I cannot think of any government organization which invokes a feeling of trust. The armed forces maybe the only exception.
Indeed, the Armed Forces still evoke trust. I hope that lasts, but the veil of secrecy that this dispensation is draping over information, under the label of patriotism, that trust, like others, may fray
Excellent post as usual, Mohit! I wonder though, how much does the homogeneous nature (or lack thereof) of a society play a role in building trust? Studies have shown it is easier to trust someone who looks like me and talks like me and goes to the same places of worship as I do. India is anything but. Even the high trust societies of the west, first built their institutions and norms in a purely homogenous society, where the "other" was never even considered to exist, let alone have a systemic structure to support them. Non majority equality rights in the west came decades after the establishment of societal norms. The whole immigration debate is founded on this distrust and what "they" will do to "our" society!
Thanks, Chirag.
As with you, the literature I've read points to greater trust in homogenous societies, topped by the Nordics.
But others can get their with strong, committed leadership. That I am conflicted by, as in the case of Singapore, which adopted draconian codes of civil conduct.
Singapore is a great counterpoint, but a rarity, no? Also, as fantastic as it is, the overall track record of "strong, committed" leadership is not the greatest!
Yes, not the preferred route to a high-trust economy.
Indian's are capable of trust, when presented with systems and institutions that work. Take metro, for example. We don't trust each other, because we can not trust each other without strong institutional backing.
1. i first thought this post is about the south london area of Tooting :)
2. from the last data point i have (mid 2023) ~75% of indian ecommerce is COD. the number only goes higher if you exclude top brands (amazon / flipkart).
All of India is Tooting -)
Thanks for the data point on COD. I had some numbers from investee companies, which are in the 55 to 60% range, which aligned with ChatGPT interrogation. Didn't want to overstate the case.
I was reflecting on my professional experience, and found that large organisations behave in a similar way. That systems and processes have been in place because they don't trust individuals with information and access. That percolates to individuals not trusting each other, and playing zero sum games.
We have a long journey from Social Darwinism to Mutual Aid, though I sure as hell think it is worth it in the long run.
Interesting - I left the corporate world decades ago, so can't really comment.
But you interact with banks. The forms are due to severe risk aversion and lack of trust. They don't help, but they give the illusion of safety to the bureaucrat who makes them. The middle class suffers while the really wealthy ignore them. :-)
Thank you, as usual for a thought provoking article. I like your style of weaving personal experiences with profound concepts.
India is a low-trust society because of the experiences we have daily. "Will be there is 5 minutes" is a standard phrase for a duration stretching from 5 to 60 minutes, weddings which start hours after "7.30pm sharp" printed in the invitation card, cabs which cancel, autos which do not follow the metre, houses which are not built on-time, doctors who make you wait for hours after your appointment time..the list is endless.
Like you mentioned, we can all make a start in our own lives by increasing or "say-do" ratio - saying what we do and doing what we say.
Our low capability low capacity government adds to the low trust in our society. I cannot think of any government organization which invokes a feeling of trust. The armed forces maybe the only exception.
Indeed, the Armed Forces still evoke trust. I hope that lasts, but the veil of secrecy that this dispensation is draping over information, under the label of patriotism, that trust, like others, may fray