It takes only a moment's reflection on our own experience and that of people we know, to see how institutions of support so often betray those who rely on them. Families that are charged with the responsibility of caring for children, betray their trust by acts of assault and abuse. Partners who are bound to love and care for each other betray each other and themselves by infidelity of word and deed. As we embark on this list of betrayals, we should not do so in any high handed or superior way. We may take this to mean that success in complex relationships like families depends on getting a number of things right.
Failure can follow getting only one thing wrong.
Thus the causes of failure are many. Nevertheless the consequences remain devastating to those who suffer them. Our attention need not be confined to personal relationships like families. Governments that are charged with protecting and succouring their citizens treat some of those same citizens as enemies and make war on them. Our own government is not immune from this disease.