Observing the presidential race in the United States, I have been struck by the similarities between Ford and Donald J. Trump. Contrary to popular self-image, the United States has traditionally been a society that enjoys very high levels of spontaneous social trust. It is one reason small businesses in the United States find it relatively easy to find investors. This is why social capital is spoken of as a form of “capital” — it’s like a resource that can be used to achieve collective goals. Contemplating the difficulty of this task may be enough to encourage us to adopt a more conservative attitude toward the forms of social capital that we still enjoy.

Source: New York Times November 08, 2016 17:06 UTC