Neighbors in today's society: Are they trustworthy?

Yes

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by Mark Waybill

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Neighbours can be trusted in these days, for the most part, as can anybody. Living in a society, people must act in a trustworthy fashion even if they are not trustworthy in all situations, as to act differently negatively affects their social status within society. To be seen as an untrustworthy person is to have a negative bias associated with one, hardly something one would wish for. Thus most people under most normal circumstances can be trusted.

It does not matter whether somebody is a neighbour or a stranger. All reasonable people will act reasonably under reasonable circumstances. As such it is only the less normal situations and people who are untrustworthy. Most neighbours, thus, fall into the trustworthy category and are thus worthy of trust. However when one asks whether they are trustworthy these days, it implies that times have changed for the worse in many cases as regards neighbours trustworthiness.

Trustworthiness of course comes in many forms. A neighbour borrows something from one and one trusts that they will give it back in good condition. If they do not it is not actually against the law, and as such they will face no criminal charge. Thus it is easy to see how untrustworthy behavior can develop in small areas in small ways. But on the whole ones neighbour is trustworthy, and will most likely not attempt to murder one or burn ones house down.

In the more minor situations a neighbour can be trusted if one has formed a rapport with them. If one is not on speaking terms or is not familiar with ones neighbours it is not likely they will think of one any the better, and as such they would be less worthy of ones trust than neighbours that one spoke with regularly. Thus it is not difficult to see how the notion of neighbours being less trustworthy these days comes about.

Without resorting to nostalgic bias it is certain that in some demographics and places times were better in the past as regarded neighbours' relationships, but this is a rule of thumb in a localized application and must not be seen as anything more. However it is not difficult to examine the decline of close neighbourly relationships, as the factors involved are more broad societal factors of the modern age.

The main factors are isolation, independence and privacy. Especially in the United States of America, but also in other developed nations, privacy is highly regarded. Thus whilst friendship is also highly regarded, privacy will often come first. For instance one would probably not want one's neighbour looking at them whilst they were taking a shower, no matter how good the terms between them were. Thus privacy in some areas is a barrier or a limitation.

Independence is glorified by the youth of today, independence not only from their parents but from all people besides a tight knit group of friends. Individualism has become very popular, and whilst the term essentially means 'being yourself', it also affects other areas such as social relationships. Independence and individuality lead to anti conformist tendencies and often un-neighbourly conduct has its origins in individualism and anti conformism.

Isolation is also a factor. Modern communications technology makes talking in person less necessary in many situations. Also busier lifestyles, the commuter system of working away from home and treating the house in a more utilitarian fashion, and the suburb being merely a place one sleeps at night, are factors to take into consideration. All of this leads to less neighbourly relationships, and less community spirit and activity.

Whether this is a good thing or not there are certainly reasons to state that neighbourly relationships have been declining of late in many areas, but trustworthiness is another area, and most normal people under normal circumstances can be trusted. But obviously it is best to be on one's guard.

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