Chris Clarke

I recently wrote two pieces on trust. The first included the argument that falling trust is not down to rising misconduct and failure, but to a climate where misconduct and failure is more likely to be unearthed. The second built on this, suggesting that the collapse in trust is heavily influenced by the intense exposure of the information age. This third instalment looks at this in more depth, using some international comparisons.

I used to have a Volkswagen, an old Transporter pickup, the kind that looked like a van that had been chopped. Mine quite resembled this one: albeit with more rust and less shine, paint UV-weathered over time to a cream of tomato soup color rather than the cherry-red in the photo.

I have a confession to make. Over the last few weeks I’ve sat myself down at the Substack desk to write something for you, and failed to have words come out of my fingers. It’s a weird mix of fatigue and depression and brain fog, along with having enough items on the podcast/nonprofit “Must Do Now Or Sooner” list that they pretty much eat up my available brain space. This hasn’t just affected Letters From the Desert: It’s caused me to have to retrench on other fronts as well.