Losing Confidence in Institutions: Paula Claycomb

Help! I’m losing confidence in all institutions

One of the basic principles for using Behaviour and Social Change Communication to promote, well, behaviour and social change, is having confidence in your source of information. Seemingly simple in theory, in practice, many of the communities in countries where I worked, from Rwanda and Mozambique to Afghanistan (based in Pakistan at the time), Brazil and Sudan were wary of messaging that came from their governments or sometimes other organizations or institutions (UNICEF was for the most part perceived as a trusted source of information). 

Never did I think that in my own country, the US, would I experience disinformation and misinformation on an unimaginable scale. The current daily barrage of lies is full of purpose, just as Radio Rwanda was in 1994 when it called for the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group by calling them cockroaches unworthy to live. The public is being fed a steady stream of lies about immigrants, calling them everything from aliens to “migrant criminals, illegal monsters, killers, “taking your jobs”, invaders, snakes that bite and many other terms. 

Of course, lies about immigrants are just one of many issues that have been warped beyond belief. Everything from education and health to catastrophic climate events and more, are also subjected to gross misrepresentation. 

The US government can no longer be trusted to tell the truth. That single institution, comprised as it is of three separate but equal branches, is poisoning not only the US but far too many countries and institutions outside its borders.

Indeed, this short essay was prompted by the decision on 15 October by the Norwegian Nobel Institute to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela. 

Initially pleased that the US President had not been selected and happy to see a positive announcement about Machado, I quickly learned – thanks to Niloufar Pourzand and others – that Machado is not the pure political activist she has been made out to be. According to The Nation and other outlets, she supported a coup against democratically elected President Hugo Chávez in 2002 and she has praised the US lethal attacks on Venezuelan boats (that according to the US administration are traffickers in drugs; 27 people have now been killed by the US with no proof that this is true). 

I spent a few days wondering what institutions are truly trustworthy. Does Machado’s selection from amongst other worthier candidates, including Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms and the Committee to Protect Journalists, indicate a complete disregard for Alfred Nobel’s intention? His criteria, according to the Nobel website, includes the "most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” It seems to me the Nobel Institute cannot be trusted. 

What about the Centers for Disease Control in the US? Hardly! Maybe the UN (including its many agencies and funds)? Hmmm ... as veterans of the UN system, what would you say? 

Say how about an athletic organization, like FIFA. Oh wait, wasn’t that Gianni Infantino, head of soccer’s global governing body, hanging onto the US President’s arm at this week’s Gaza Summit?

A Gallup Poll released in July this year, indicated that Democrats’ (you know, the raging, woke antifa supporters) confidence fell below 30 per cent towards the following six institutions: the church or organized religion, the military, the U.S. Supreme Court, banks, public schools, newspapers, U.S. Congress, organized labor and big business.

Whoa Nellie – what does that leave? Actually, quite a bit, including the Presidency, criminal justice system, police, medical system and television news.

Even in my small town (population 6,500), decisions by the local government are contentious as we struggle with a deficit of affordable rental homes, a growing group of people without shelter, increasing hunger and a consequent increase in violent crime.

All this leaves me wondering: What national or global institution in 2025 inspires confidence in you? I have several individual commentators whose daily essays I trust, but I am asking about institutions and organizations. Your thoughts are welcome!