Such perverse equilibrium states might be extremely stable, unless there is finally intervention from outside. They are stable because anyone who tries to be cooperative is at risk of being exploited by others. To move away from pervasive untrustworthiness, and hence distrust, requires moves by several or many at once and cannot easily be started by a single member of the community.

XREF: Connects to collective action problems and game theory (prisoner's dilemma, tipping points) and to literature on social capital and trust collapse. SEED: Could be an article angle on why trust breaks down in organizations or online communities, and what triggers the coordinated shift back to trust.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 475