You Gotta Have Faith

I've been slowly making my way through David K. Shipler bestseller, The Working Poor: Invisible in America. It's a wonderfully written book and I highly recommend it, but it's also extremely depressing. In an attempt to finagle a little levity back into my life, I took a break from Shipler's bludgeoning misery to read Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard. Now, this is a phenomenally simple book insofar as your average 7th grader would have no problem breezing through it over the course of a weekend. Furthermore, there is ample cause for legitimate criticism of Layard's suggestions for economic policy. And yet, there are two points he makes that resonate: (a) the quality of the relationships in our lives is the number one factor in determining our happiness, and (b) there is a direct correlation between our own happiness and the degree to which we place trust in other people.

My experiences with poverty, as well as my reading on the subject, has led me to the conclusion that distrust is endemic among the working class poor – both individually and as a political demographic. The ongoing debate on the state of journalism (and other media) provides excellent examples of our ability and willingness to trust. Most of us are accused of listening to opinions and news that we agree with, but I would argue that a more accurate description of our preferences is for those sources that we trust. Right now, generally speaking, Republicans trust those in political power (GOP) and distrust those with media power (CNN, CBS, NYT, etc.) - vice versa Democrats. Essentially, we align ourselves with those we trust because it makes us happier to do so. People who trust their neighbors or their co-workers are much more likely to be happy; just so with those who trust what they see on television, be it a White House press briefing or The Daily Show. At least in this, perhaps, we are all alike. As for the distrust among the poor and disenfranchised, nowhere was it more evidenced and exploited than in the rise of Conservative talk-radio in the late 80's; which eventually metastasized into FOX News via a visceral distrust of prevailing authority (be it Bill Clinton or Peter Jennings). The case for this phenomenon is deftly traced in Richard A. Viguerie's America's Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New and Alternative Media to Take Over America, and Thomas Frank's oft-referenced book, What's the Matter with Kansas?. Of course, contemplation of these large political trends provides amusing fodder for longwinded conversations that go nowhere (much like this very post), but viewing personal responses to media reports or blog posts with an awareness of our own level of trust can be an enlightening experience.