Published CommPro.biz 2014.02.04

The Bad Apples

Every year Harris Interactive surveys Americans on our level of trust in a group of nineteen industries. Over the last ten years a dismal outlook has gotten worse. Harris asks, "Which of these industries do you think are generally honest and trustworthy – so that you normally believe a statement by a company in that industry?" Not a single industry met that standard in the minds of even half of Americans, not one in the last decade. Most businesses are trustworthy, it’s the few bad apples that drag everyone down

Supermarkets did best at 30%. That means 70% of us do not trust supermarkets. The list gets worse quickly. All but one of the remaining 18 industries scores in the teens or a single digit. Oil and tobacco companies are at the bottom of the list. Oil comes in at 4%, putting their distrust level at 96%, tobacco scores 3% putting their distrust level at 97%. Fitting for a couple of industries that have fed the grim reaper millions of people around the world? Tobacco is at the bottom. We can’t imagine how anyone could have a positive outlook when it comes to tobacco. It’s more like a criminal enterprise that has killed more people than all the dictators of the 20^th century combined. Imagine, more than the big three –Mao Zedong, Jozef Stalin and Adolf Hitler– plus all the minor tyrants of the last century. 

Hospitals came in second at 28%, dropping from 36% in 2012, a result of the wide range of healthCARE entities that have become healthGreed entities. Banks come in at number four with a trust level of 18%. That means eight out of ten Americans have no trust in anything our bankers say. In 2004 the banks had a 40% trust level. That collapsed with the recession and recognition by the public that the monster banks are out of control. We would guess the 18% who trust banks are referring to their local community bank. In the same poll the number of Americans who say banks should face stronger regulation jumped 50% in the last decade. No surprise given what’s happened since the banksters lobbied away the regulations that protected us for almost a century. 

Industries sharing a low trust level and support for more regulation are topped by two that are literally killing us, tobacco and oil. The health care industries follow close behind. Driving costs out of control are Big Pharma, insurers and hospitals focused on money in this industry group that is immune to competition. Any fix is being blocked by those we elect to protect our interests. Our legislative bodies, in the states and at the national level are controlled by the lobbyists who pour money into their pockets. That leaves all of us out in the cold, spending more by far than on healthcare any nation on earth and getting third world outcomes.  

"Am I wrong?"--"Am I Nuts?"--

"What do you think?"--"Do you agree?"