Society is built upon trust

One of the best things I love about Japan is the high level of trust that exists in the society.

I realised in my college that, the more one tries to exploit/misuse the existing system, the more rules, in other words, restrictions, are put onto the use of system. My college being a relatively new one had fewer rules when I joined about 4 years ago compared to when I left it three years ago. For example, when authorities catch a student cheating using mobile phone in exam hall, guess what, nobody is allowed to take mobile phones to exam hall from next day onwards. After some years, an equilibrium will be reached where the rules and restrictions put on the students are somewhat reflection of how much administration can trust them with various things. The disadvantage of restrictions: These strip away the freedom(and convenience) for everyone.

A nation is somewhat similar system but on a much larger scale. I feel less the people can be trusted, the more restrictions are needed for society to exist without much chaos. Now the interesting thing here I think is, one could judge the trust level that exists in a society through the number of restrictions that exists in it. I had several encounters in Japan where I was a bit surprised to get the freedom which I would not get back at home:

1. There is no (at least visible) security checks at the entrances of Malls etc. In India, it is always a bit of a hassle to get yourself scanned by the security guards at the entrance!
2. Even more convenient is, I can take my backpack (or for that matter any bag) inside supermarkets and stores etc. In India the bag has to be deposited at the entrance! This is so cumbersome and waste of time.
3. Even more surprisingly I see many products kept outside of shops where any one could (a lot more) easily shoplift them.
4. I was able to book a 3 hour long bus online without even paying for the money. I think it is possible because they trust me to show up and pay the money when it’s time to board the bus. However, it is not always true that advance booking can be made without payment.
5. I can keep my wallet in the back-pocket of my jeans without any worry. It is highly discouraged to do the same in Delhi metro. Infact, I think there is even announcement in metros in India to beware of pickpockets.
6. Recently a growing phenomenon in Japan is self-checkout at supermarkets. That is, we don’t have to take our shopping card to cashier person. Instead we can take it to a self-checkout machine where we can scan the barcodes on the products ourselves and then pay the money by inserting cash into the machine. Although I think the machine is designed to detect fraud but still I feel having such system is only possible if supermarket greatly trusts their customers. By having such a system supermarkets save money by having to employ fewer cashiers and customers save their time by faster checkout!
7. When I go on outdoor activities to countryside/village areas sometimes I find small booth like place where someone is selling their local produce i.e. fruits/vegetables etc. Surprising thing is there is no person there! If you want to buy you are just supposed to pick one already packed package and leave money there and be on your way. This high level of trust on people was also very shocking for me!

Overall I feel there are much less restrictions in Japanese society which shows that there is a high level of trust amongst people. In such high level of trust environment, I think it is much easier to build new systems. Therefore, Robert South once aptly said “Society is built upon trust”.

I wish the trust level also increases in Indian society which will make India a much more convenient place to live amongst other benefits. I think high level of trust will be possible when there is huge income disparity between people reduces. This in turn will be possible when everyone gets good education.

If you have any questions about the above examples or want to discuss anything related, I would love to hear from you in the comments!