Note a peculiar asymmetry in the possibilities for trust and distrust in such collectivities. The worst implication of the grand transition from a small-scale to a very large-scale, impersonal society might eventually, because of power differences and general cynicism, be to produce fairly generalized distrust, which can make sense in a way that generalized trust does not. Generalized distrust would not, however, block the possibilities for trust as encapsulated interest in ongoing relationships.

XREF: Connects to broader sociological work on social capital and trust (e.g., Putnam) that treats generalized trust as an unqualified civic good.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 813