High and Low Trust People and Ideologies
By Gene Van Shaar
When my wife and I were dating in high school, she loved me and trusted me. I was still learning about love and loyalty, and I betrayed her trust by going out with someone else. I quickly realized my mistake, learned more about love and trust, and we’ve had a happy and high-trust relationship for 60 years. However, my wife remembers my teenage betrayal and still needs assurance that my love and loyalty are eternal.
Can she totally trust me? Yes. Can I totally trust her? Absolutely. I wish everyone could enjoy the blessings of trust. Tragically, many have never known the joy of trusting relationships. Some have been used and abused, privately and publicly.
Becoming someone others can trust and finding others you can trust is one of life’s most critical and difficult challenges. No one wants friends that will stab them in the back. No one wants a spouse that will abuse, desert, or betray them. No one wants to depend on those who lie, cheat, and steal. Groups and nations that violate and betray others spread misery and destruction.
Trust is the key to happiness and prosperity for individuals, families, and nations. Many law and belief systems reward integrity and punish treachery. For example, Judeo-Christian teachings promote high-trust relationships and cultures. Free-market capitalism relies on voluntary transactions, which require high-trust interactions.
On the other hand, some ideologies encourage low-trust thinking and behavior. For example, Communists are taught that the “end justifies the means” and are encouraged to lie and even kill to achieve communist control. Muslims are taught to lie to non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam and Jihad. It’s called taqiyya.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn experienced the horrors of Communism and wrote about it extensively. In numerous ways and places, he explained and verified that communism is a system of lies upon lies upon lies and that we must “Live Not by Lies.”
Some high-trust societies have suicidal empathy for low-trust intruders, resulting in violence and tyranny. In less than two minutes, Avery Daye brilliantly explains some of the low-trust intruder damage in high-trust Europe: Here.
Many high-trust individuals have trusted low-trust scoundrels, resulting in broken hearts and tragic losses. As individuals and nations, we need to protect ourselves by trusting only those who are trustworthy.
Trusting those who “live by lies,” privately or publicly, leads to misery. Those who believe in lying to get what they want, like Communists and Jihadists, must be resisted and restricted.
As I said in my article Personal and Political Anti-Traitor Armor:
Never be a traitor. Never support a traitor. Never vote for a traitor. Never marry a traitor. Never hire a traitor. Never work for a traitor. Never trust a traitor. Never go to the lowest ring of hell for siding with a traitor.
So, who can we trust? I trust the Lord, family, friends, and most of those who love freedom. Also, I trust President Trump because I can see him fighting communism, Jihad, fraud, and those who live by lies.
Happy and prosperous lives and nations are built on trust, love, and loyalty. Trust creates connections and lasting relationships. It’s not about fake promises or plans; it’s about being someone people can trust.
In a recent discussion with one of my grandsons, he expressed some feelings of inadequacy and failure and asked how he could be happier and more successful. I assured him that, whatever weaknesses he had, I trusted him, and that being a high-trust friend, father, and worker would bring fulfillment in his personal and professional life.
© Copyright 2026 Gene Van Shaar
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Gene Van Shaar has spent a lifetime studying, teaching, and writing about freedom, faith, and family. Many of his posts, articles, and chapters are available via https://x.com/genevanshaar and https://genevanshaar.substack.com.
Image: Alex Shute, Unsplash