Who can you trust?

[#1]

With the Catholic church (I'm not Catholic) the BBC, the Liberal Democrat party and numerous others all embroiled in various high profile scandals, does make you wonder just who you can trust of those in public life these days.
However, having said that, is it any different to what it always has been, or is it just because the media is in predatory mood?.

[#2]

There`s nothing wrong with any of those ..... as "organisations"... it is just that there are some people who are in the organisations, that believe that because of their involvement/calling or whatever, with that organisation, they can bend the "normal" rules of life in general, and manage to get away with it,..... for a while.....
When they are "discovered".. it is the people who are prosecuted... not the organisation...... unfortunately, the press seem to hold the organisation to task, which "blights" the "trust" you mention in that organisation.
If the senior management have not been aware of the miscreants within, then they should not be held responsible for not knowing.... IF, however, on the other hand, they are found to have known about the miscreants, then they , too, should be held to account, and punished accordingly. They should also be dismissed, or removed from the organisation, to retain it`s credibility to the general public.

[#3]

In the case of the Lib Dems there were a number of people who knew what was going on but failed to act.  Even the leader of the party, who denied any knowledge last week, has now admitted to a certain degree of knowledge of the accusations. 

[#4]

I disagree with you shutter I'm afraid. In the case of he BBC, people all over that organisation were in the know about Saville for many years including top people. All of them chose to ignore the facts and all of them continued to protect him and his 'good' name.
An organisation is basically a group of people. Sure it may not involve all of them but when you join any organisation you make a conscious decision to become part of that group and take the consequences. If you join the BBC and are aware of people talking about someone like Saville and go along with keeping quiet like everyone else then you're just as bad. This is why many companies have a clause in their contract about bringing them into disripute - because it is generally understood and accepted that people will hold the company responsible not the individual. Thats the way it is in the UK - people always accuse those who are innocent of something pointless and wrong.
As for the original question about who you can trust, no-one would be my answer. They've all got some shady little scam going somewhere. This is the UK and it has one of the hardest economies to survive in yet the government do well with its tax extortion raquets and these big companies seem to make survival look easy. Then we find out that many have been breaking the rules in order to survive - like News International using phone hacking to ensure it always had headlines that would sell papers. Now the food industry has been found to have been cheating its customers and the law, the government were recently found to be using slave labour, the lib dems, Liebour sending people/details of to Libya for torture... and I'm sure there are numerous other things that have happened recently that I can't remember.
Bottom line: If someone wants power over you, they can't be trusted. The only thing I partially trust is the media - if there is a scandal to expose they'll get hold of it somehow legal or not lol.

[#5]

The last thing I would ever do is make excuses for those people who abuse their position in any way but consider the following, you are a young person with a family who has invested some time in a particular firm or organization and someone tells you they have complained about the activities of one of the top people who is very popular and well liked, what would you honestly do ? In most cases probably agree with the person that what happened was wrong but then do nothing.
Amongst those of you who say yes I would do something exactly what would you do ? Remember those at the top must protect the organization which of course means they have to be beyond reproach so if you go ahead and do something that could well be the end of your career, as one top member of staff said to me in the presence of other senior staff, remember that when you leave here we will be the ones writing your reference.......... so the question is if you did not actually witness something but made aware of it what exactly would you do ?
Remember what's happened to other whistle blowers would you want to be in their shoes ?

[#6]

Well that is the whole problem isn't it. Because our society is hierarchial and you're always above or below someone else people are often put in positions where they're forced to shut up and keep quiet yet they are later (when exposed) often the ones who then aremade to look bad for keeping quiet.
It's the way our society operates - in the dark shades and shadows or dodginess. Until that is changed, it will just carry on.

[#7]

Does any modern society exist that is not hierarchial ? and could a society exist if it was not hierarchial ?

[#8]

Probably not and probably not.
Thats the whole issue though. It's the way it works and unfortunately this country makes it worse by always blaming those who are trying to go about their daily business for being difficult on purpose in some way. Everyone is forced to find odd solutions to avoiding hassle with the state, people end up with 'understandings', dealings, and other dodgy stuff it it goes progresssively downhill from there.
Unfortunately I can't see there being a way to stop it oither than to purge the current set of rules that are fixed in favour of those at the top and start again. That ain't going to happen so we'll just have to live with blaming the entire organisation when a few of their members do naughty things. Just like you get the blame for refusing to pay your council tax (even though you want to but just don't have the money). Thats the way the UK works and is encouraged to work - blame people wrongly for their circumstances.

[#9]

Quote

Who can you trust?

Myself and SWMBO
If I couldn't/didn't trust SWMBO there's be little point being together.