what does trust mean to you?

Question

of course i mean in the context of anarchistic relations.

in the world of democrapitalism, trust is essentially reliant on legal (contracts) and political (elected representatives) institutions. and that trust, as well as the supposedly "earned" or assumed trust between individuals who know each other (eg, families), is breached frequently. in a world of individuals relating freely and without institutional constraints, how would you build trust with others that you don't already know? can anything other than time and first-hand experience serve that purpose?

Comments

you raise an important point: self-trust.

given the breadth and depth of indoctrination all (at least most) of us have been subjected to, how does one trust that their feelings/intuitions/fears are authentically their own and rooted in their individual experience/understanding/relations, and not coming from the false authority of some ideology or similar?

hack away!

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i think that question (how do we trust ourselves) shows the purpose of the examined life (examined in whatever way one finds important/fulfilling). to determine our own values, and then measure our desires against them (and vice versa).

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dot - indeed. values (principles?), desires....  hopefully that all results in some clear priorities for how one chooses to move in the world.

a word - however ill-defined and over-used - that comes to mind is "authentic". how can i know that something i desire - or even some principle that i hold - is authentically my own?

it is entirely possible that, after much critical thought and analysis around it, i still cannot know with certainty. i long ago learned to accept that, and to trust myself enough to both listen and challenge. i refuse to be stymied by analysis paralysis.

another thing i think this points to - which many activists and leftists seem to deny or ignore - is that sometimes NOT acting is in fact the "authentic" way to proceed, and the path course of action most likely to jibe with one's desires.

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I'm suspicious of this question.

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f@, i don't think i worry so much about whether something is mine any more. i think i've given that up as one of those questions that does in fact lead to paralysis.

although i am currently in a stage of approaching that question again, as i ponder grief and where i want to stand in relationship to it, considering cultural expectations as possible pointers for how to deal, knowing that i will make my own (sigh ;) ) decision(s), but still open to what i can learn from others who have dealt with it.

but i think that other people come into this -- as in, i have a number of associations who i interact with at least weekly, and they are like the float thingee attached to some rowboats, to make the boat part harder to tip over. (wikipedia has failed me.) no single one of them has too much say, but all of them together provide some indications that i'm not upside down.