The author discusses some caveats to this approach. We might also take a critical lens toward trust as a default stance by applying an understanding of systems

The author discusses some caveats to this approach. We might also take a critical lens toward trust as a default stance by applying an understanding of systems of oppression. I love the way this is discussed in AORTA's facilitation guide (http://aorta.coop/portfolio_page/anti-oppressive-facilitation/ http://aorta.coop/portfolio_page/anti-oppressive-facilitatio...): > There are a few community agreements that participants often bring up that we don’t tend to use or bring with us. Two of the most common ones are “assume best intentions” and “default to trust.” The reason we don’t use these is because when someone is unable to do this (say they’re feeling untrusting of someone, or unsafe), having a community agreement telling them to do so isn’t going to change anything. These agreements aren’t always realistic, especially when we take into consideration that when people have been harmed by sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, they/we build up necessary tools to care for and protect themselves/ourselves. Agreements we offer instead that capture the spirit of these are “we can’t be articulate all the time,” “be generous with each other,” or “this is a space for learning.”