The term "high trust society" has become somewhat of a topic of conversation in later years, particularly with what's happening currently in Japan, a country that has been widely considered one of the "highest-trust" societies in the world for decades and is in a real danger of that situation being quickly eroded.
But what is a "high trust society"?
Rather than writing an essay trying to explain it, I'll instead write a sort of questionnaire or checklist: Check each of these bullet points and score each one for your own country, city or town for example from a scale from 0 to 10, and then sum up all the scores. The higher the end result, the more of a "high trust society" you live in.
More crucially, has this score gone down over time, particularly because of increased immigration?
1) How likely is it that you can walk down the street without being accosted, asked for money or something else, harassed, or outright mugged, especially if you are a woman, elderly, or a child?
2) How likely is it that if you approach a stranger on the streets and ask for some kind of help, you'll be able to do that safely and with complete trust that the other person will be amicable and willing to help?
3) How amicable, trustworthy and nice are police officers there? Are they authority figures that can always be trusted and can always be asked for help if needed, and will always be happy to help you, and be friendly when doing so? Are cops genuinely your friends who are there genuinely to serve the public and keep it safe because that's the right thing to do?
4) How likely is it that if you lose something valuable, like your wallet or purse, that it will end up being taken to a police station or similar, with all of its contents intact, rather than being stolen? Likewise: If someone immediately notices that you lost the item, how likely is it that they will immediately notify you and tell you about it?
5) How well do you know your neighbors where you live, and how likely is it that you can safely and with complete confidence go ring the doorbell of a neighbor to ask for something and you'll get a warm welcome and offer of help?
6) If you leave your home without locking the front door, the likelihood of someone illegally entering your home is vanishingly small, even if it's obvious that they could do so?
7) How likely is it that you can leave valuable objects on your front or back yard, and nobody will take them and instead respect your property?
8) Is violent crime, against people and against businesses, extremely rare? Is shoplifting extremely rare? Can shops keep a display of their goods they are selling on the street without any monitoring and without any fear that someone will steal it?
9) Is about the worst crimes that happen in your town some drunkards being in a bar fight and taken to jail to sleep it over?
10) How honest are people in general where you live? For example, assume that someone is browsing products in a convenience store and accidentally drops a product on the floor, and it breaks. How likely is it that the person is completely honest and calls the store staff to tell them exactly what happened, and is even ready to pay for the product if the store demands it? Or similarly, suppose someone accidentally breaks your window or damages your car: How likely is it that they will try to contact you about what happened, taking full responsibility?
11) How much do people cooperate in making your city or town a nice living place by, for example, keeping it clean, avoid trashing it, follow related city ordinances, avoid breaking public property, calling the authorities if something is broken or otherwise wrong? How respectful are people towards their fellow citizens and try their best to not bother and inconvenience them?
12) How readily and willingly do people cooperate with the authorities eg. in emergency situations, or situations where the authorities need the help of the public? How readily do people volunteer to do things to help the current situation or society in general, even if they aren't directly asked to do so?
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