A High-Trust Society

Since its inception, City Club has striven to be a Securus Locus, a safe place for its members to show up as their best selves and express their opinions without fear of judgment.

But such a place can only thrive within something larger: a high-trust society. Boulder may be unusually well positioned to become one.

Trust is the invisible infrastructure that allows people to live and work together without constantly protecting themselves from one another. In a high-trust society, we begin with the assumption that most people are decent, most promises will be kept, and most disagreements are made in good faith.

That simple assumption changes almost everything.

Neighbors help neighbors. Entrepreneurs take risks. Citizens volunteer. Communities rally when disaster strikes. We need fewer rules, contracts, security systems, bureaucracies, and lawyers because people generally do what they say they will do.

Perhaps most importantly today, trust allows us to disagree without becoming enemies. I can believe you are completely wrong without believing you are a bad person.

Boulder already possesses many of the ingredients of a high-trust society: an educated population, strong civic institutions, engaged citizens, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, volunteerism, and a scale small enough that relationships still matter.

Of course, trust should never mean naïveté. Healthy communities combine high trust with transparency and accountability. Ronald Reagan often advised, “Trust, but verify.”

At City Club, we have spent over twenty years building community, and have learned that beautiful gardens, art, and music help. Conversation matters. And breaking bread together may be the oldest community-building ritual of all.

But if food is the glue that holds our community together, trust is the foundation upon which it is built.

— Sina.

PS. To learn more, read, and possibly attend Member Monday’s topic: Trust me