Many have lamented the decline in trust of institutions, and government in particular. Trust in government has been undermined when politician like Ronald Reagan assert that government is the problem, not the solution.
When political figures, for example, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell state that as a matter of principle the US Senate should not confirm a president's Supreme Court nominee "in an election year", or "after the primary season is under way", but "let the people decide" through the election of the net president; but then just four years letter they take exactly the opposite position, it is not surprising that the public sees this as astounding hypocrisy.
But there is more than just hypocrisy; it means that politicians and leaders cannot be taken at their word. It undermines trust and makes governing more difficult because "the government" and those who run it cannot be trusted.
That has consequences as the covid crisis has shown. Even if the GOP hadn't disparaged mask-wearing, a lack of trust in government makes it less likely that people will take actions that would result in crushing the virus. The result has been over two hundred thousand unnecessary deaths.
It also undermines the values that a well ordered society depends on. If integrity is not modeled by political leaders, we cannot expect people to value it either. That degrades our social intersections and makes life sadder and less rewarding in general.
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