The Establishment, the Elite, and the Experts

In his landmark study Childhood and Society (1950), the psychologist Erik H. Erikson describes social trust as the most fundamental feeling that human beings need if they are to find their place in the world. It is the inner conviction that our social environment means well, that the world is a good place to be, and that we are a meaningful part of it. Such trust starts to develop immediately after birth, when the child “finds that more and more adventures of the senses arouse a feeling of familiarity […]. Forms of comfort, and people associated with them, become […] an inner certainty as well as an outer predictability”. This “consistency, continuity, and sameness of experience” is the basis for a secure identity—a psychological make-up that enables us confidently to address the challenges we encounter in life. This sense of security also gives us the confidence to absorb any anomalous experiences that might defy our familiar framework. Hence it is vital that this “basic trust […] maintain itself throughout life”.