We Are Losing Trust in Our Institutions and It’s Very Concerning
By: Ethan Chua
Tags: Postmodernism, Government, Media Criticism, Philosophy, Politics

We Don’t Want to Trust the Process

Postmodernism was a philosophical movement that started in the 1960s. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

“Postmodernism is indefinable is a truism. However, it can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning.”

The Enlightenment period dispensed with monarchies and implemented institutions such as constitutional government. It also brought with it useful ideas such as liberty, freedom, tolerance, progression, and the separation of church and state.

However, in the 20th century, WW2 came about. This was followed by the Cold War and the utilization of the nuclear missile. It was then that people realized that the same institutions they trusted to progress them into the future were just as likely to destroy them. Postmodernism was a direct response to this.

The point of postmodernism is simple — to question the status quo. Postmodernism does not just question institutions, it questions everything. All the way back to the ideas brought about by the Enlightenment. Postmodernism dismisses the concept of objective truth. Rather, it provides us with a lens and a direction — to challenge everything established.

Postmodernism is in our blood. The 1960s was a pivotal moment politically and culturally for America. Institutional instability, coupled with the rising popularity of psychedelics created a culture of revolt. The fight for the end of Jim Crow laws and the establishment of the Equal Pay Act were clear examples of the evolving culture.

This need to question institutions is still present today. We don’t want to trust the process, we want to challenge it.

Questioning Is Good Unless Taken Too Far

Questioning the status quo is good. It provides us with an opportunity to critically examine the established position and uncover the truth. However, productive questioning still requires certain axioms to function. It is not productive when self-constructed narratives replace such axioms.

Sometimes these narratives become the ‘truth’. They get treated as the template to base reality on. If reality does not agree with the constructed narrative, that narrative morphs it to agree. A prime example was the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement initially started as a retaliation against police brutality. That was a noble aim.

A subset of the police is discriminating and shooting others based on race. Police brutality was their narrative and it was police brutality that fuelled their protests. However, this narrative evolved to encompass all non-minority groups and even institutions. Systemic racism became the narrative, there may be some truth in this, but it was not a productive way of viewing America.

Systemic racism covered everything. All of America was racist, essentially, and this only served to further divide the country. Unreasonable demands were made based on the idea that the African-American community was still suffering from the repercussions of slavery. Even George Washington was antagonized.

This was an explicit critique of American institutions, stating that racism was institutionalized. Institutions and organizations are the cornerstones of one’s country. Distrust in these cornerstones only leads to social unrest.

Social unrest is good if it is warranted and productive, like the fight for Civil Rights in the 1960s. Tearing down statues of our forefathers because they owned slaves is not productive. Hating all American institutions because they are apparently racist is not productive. Destroying businesses and looting shophouses is not productive.

Not everyone in the movement did this as there were many who peacefully and productively advocated. And I commend them. The reaction from the police also did little to cement our trust in our institutions. Therefore, both sides were at fault.

Be it the Black Lives Matter movement or the Presidential Election, the social unrest that stems from our lack of institutional trust is very concerning.