When did every institution become the enemy?

How did distrust of particular institutions become distrust of institutions altogether?

Trust and scrutiny

Trust in institutions is eroding, and in some cases rightfully so. But institutions are often supposed to be regulated and policed. They’re susceptible to public scrutiny. This makes them, or used to make them, reliable and trustworthy.

Mass-scepticism

Yet it seems as if we can’t trust any of them anymore because of the “mass-scepticism syndrome” our Western societies are suffering from.

Some institutions did betray us, or acted against our best interests without necessarily intending to do so. Through social media, we then came to think that all institutions with some sort of power are evil.

But are they really that bad?

Nowadays, even the universities that educate our best scientists are labelled evil and bad. Whenever I see these things on social media, I can’t help but ask myself: “What’s behind this?”

How did distrust of particular institutions become distrust of institutions altogether?

I may never know. It’s interesting to think about.

First written in August 2026.