4 ms·
It's fairly obvious to me that the CDC never had a chance at public trust in the first place, because public agencies don't get to have trust in the 21st centur
by helen___keller 5y ago
It's fairly obvious to me that the CDC never had a chance at public trust in the first place, because public agencies don't get to have trust in the 21st century, period. Honestly - name a public agency that's widely trusted and respected, on a bipartisan basis, and I'll give you a public agency that people don't pay attention to or care about.
The moment the CDC came into the national spotlight in March 2020, that was it for their bipartisan reputation as a trustworthy agency.
Part of public trust is believing in good faith decision making, which implies that mistakes are seen positively or neutrally in hindsight - part of the process of learning, not evidence of corruption or gross ineptitude.
When is the last time a major US policy mistake didn't result in a political field day?
The CDC never stood a chance, if we're being honest.
- somebodynew 5y agoI would nominate the National Park Service as a potential candidate for a federal agency with both public awareness and bipartisan approval.
- helen___keller 5y agoawareness but not relevance. This is similar to the CDC pre-pandemic: oh yeah they're out there stopping ebola or something.
- TheParkShark 5y agoThey’re out there in many places going against the Mexican Cartels. Just because you’re not aware doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
- helen___keller 5y agoAnd the CDC was out there fighting ebola before the pandemic
- sauwan 5y agoI'm not sure that's true in times of crisis. Bush's approval ratings and trust levels with the general public went through the roof during 9/11. Obviously he squandered that, just as the CDC has done here.
- helen___keller 5y agoJust to be clear, I believe this is an emergent phenomenon with social media and the internet. "21st century" maybe would be better stated as around 2009 or so. If 9/11 happened in the current world (under trump OR biden), the political circus, division, and paranoia would be immense.
- derobert 5y agoA couple spring to mind * most every fire department * many public school systems * as far as federal agencies, transportation, NASA, NSF, Medicare, to varying extents.
- helen___keller 5y agoFire departments and school systems are local agencies so of course the internet rage machine doesn't affect them I'll grant you medicare. I don't think transportation, NASA, or NSF are really something people really care about (in the emergent "should I wear a mask when I go outside" kind of care), but maybe I'm wrong on those.