4 ms·

My bar for low-trust is 'Should I expect to have to bribe public and private officials to get them to perform their duties, most of the time'? The US is relati

by vkou 3y ago

My bar for low-trust is 'Should I expect to have to bribe public and private officials to get them to perform their duties, most of the time'? The US is relatively high trust in this space. And I don't know of many countries that will pass the bike test. Certainly, nowhere in Europe would. Maybe we could try a different test - how afraid is the society of itself. Count how often you see cops, how well-armed they are, etc...

xandrius 3y ago
For me the test is: if possible, would an individual skip paying the ticket for a public transport if they know almost nobody will check? It's so trivial and yet it shows how much the society cares about its own systems functioning properly or not.
- vkou 3y ago
  That's a better test. There are a lot of places with 95%+ fare compliance where I wouldn't leave my bike unlocked for an instant. It only takes one asshole out of thousands to steal a bike, and every society has at least one asshole.
  - xandrius 3y ago
    Any example? Also high trust != absolutely no crime ever It's the difference between getting your bike stolen because of a random asshole and knowing your bike will be stolen by someone (also arguably an asshole).
    - vkou 3y ago
      > Any example? Literally any city with good fare compliance. If it's got enough people in it to have a transit network, it's got enough bike thieves in it to steal your bike. > It's the difference between getting your bike stolen because of a random asshole and knowing your bike will be stolen by someone (also arguably an asshole). That's just a product of population density. If you live in the middle of nowhere, with 5 people total in a 15-mile radius, it's highly unlikely someone's going to steal your bike. If you leave your bike on Main Street, where thousands of people walk by every hour, all it takes is one in a thousand.

4 ms·

My bar for low-trust is 'Should I expect to have to bribe public and private officials to get them to perform their duties, most of the time'? The US is relati

by vkou 3y ago

xandrius 3y ago
For me the test is: if possible, would an individual skip paying the ticket for a public transport if they know almost nobody will check? It's so trivial and yet it shows how much the society cares about its own systems functioning properly or not.
- vkou 3y ago
  That's a better test. There are a lot of places with 95%+ fare compliance where I wouldn't leave my bike unlocked for an instant. It only takes one asshole out of thousands to steal a bike, and every society has at least one asshole.
  - xandrius 3y ago
    Any example? Also high trust != absolutely no crime ever It's the difference between getting your bike stolen because of a random asshole and knowing your bike will be stolen by someone (also arguably an asshole).
    - vkou 3y ago
      > Any example? Literally any city with good fare compliance. If it's got enough people in it to have a transit network, it's got enough bike thieves in it to steal your bike. > It's the difference between getting your bike stolen because of a random asshole and knowing your bike will be stolen by someone (also arguably an asshole). That's just a product of population density. If you live in the middle of nowhere, with 5 people total in a 15-mile radius, it's highly unlikely someone's going to steal your bike. If you leave your bike on Main Street, where thousands of people walk by every hour, all it takes is one in a thousand.