Trust

The Wednesday morning study is going through the book of Proverbs. Proverbs has a number of warnings about what happens to people in general, and especially to rulers who try to get rich unscrupulously.

It struck me as a bit ironic. Money is a promise that somebody will give you something when you ask for it--in other words it represents trust. So the villain, untrustworthy himself, wants to reliably trust other people. Why shouldn't they reciprocate?

The picture doesn't change much if the villain collects stuff instead of money. He can't maintain it all, and has to trust other people not to make off with stuff when his back is turned, or be ready to penalize others who do.

When Ceausescu's minions didn't trust that bad things would happen to them if they stepped out of line, they got into a firing line.