Jeffery Tucker, in a recent opinion piece published in Substack, asserted that the social contract within our society has been shredded. In this article, Mr. Tucker pointed to the failure of governments and institutions across the world to protect their citizens’ health, economic stability, mental welfare, and personal well-being. He cited the growing mistrust in medicine, burgeoning inflation, open borders, unhealthy food, and increased crime as prime examples of the chaos now being unleashed on the public. In addition, the social fabric of our cities and towns are being ripped apart by woke activism, ethnic tribalism, and civic apathy. Mr. Tucker is an astute observer of national and global trends.
In contemplating his article, it occurred to me that, if we do in fact, have a torn social contract, we are in worse shape than we thought. The destruction of the contract has grave professional and personal ramifications. It is possible that we are now seeing the beginning of a breakdown of the most basic of all human interactions. That is, the personal contract. What is a personal contract? According to legalmatch.com, “a personal contract is an agreement between two or more parties that creates a binding obligation for one or more of the parties to do something.” Personal contracts are both formal and informal. On the formal side, these include things such as employment agreements, rental agreements, and loan agreements, but they can also be informal.
Informal agreements are implied assumptions of goodwill and mutual trust towards a positive outcome. These implied agreements include things such as barter, exchange of services, or receipt for goods through informal communication. Informal agreements are the basic rules that we all operate by such as showing up at an agreed upon time or keeping a promise. The book of James summarized the essence of a personal contract when he stated “do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple Yes or No.” For a society to function properly, there must be some expectation that people will do what they say they will do. When they don’t, we lose faith in their integrity.
The key elements of a personal contract generally include one party making an offer, and the other party accepting the offer. All parties must agree to the terms. Our society functions properly when something of value is exchanged for something else of value. It is this fundamental system of transactions that keeps our economy prosperous and our professional relationships healthy. It is also the basic building block for interacting with our neighbors and forming productive connections within our communities. If we cannot depend on the integrity of basic human-to-human exchange, we begin to question everything else as well.
At the state and federal level, one could assert that institutional bureaucracies have always been unresponsive and generally deliver less than expected. In certain instances, their unresponsiveness works. All students are tested using the same assessments for their grade level. All members of the military must have a certain IQ. All police officers must undergo firearms safety training. We want consistent standards for learning and membership in public safety roles. However, the one-size-fits-all approach naturally breaks down at the local level. The vaccine mandates were a perfect example of trying to force-fit a medical solution on an entire population that was only needed for certain at-risk groups. Open borders are another example of the chaos that ensues when national policy does not consider the burden on local neighborhoods and schools. Prosperous communities are built by attracting people who become productive citizens and improve the local quality-of-life, not take from it.
Institutions create wealth and intellectual synergy. Corporations exist to make money. As companies are successful and grow, they employ more people who share in the company’s prosperity. With more regulation and bureaucracy, corporations start to act like government. Corporate leadership moves from boardrooms to government policy and vice versa. CEOs retire with golden parachutes and become lobbyists for special interests who give advice to the legislatures. College presidents become consultants for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and non-profit foundations. The NGOs and non-profits fund higher education grants and contracts.
The working-class may begin to realize that institutions are no longer looking out for them. The road to prosperity then is not to work hard or achieve, but find the angle, hustle, or grift that produces the greatest pay-out with the least amount of effort. This message trickles down over time and is reinforced at every level. Children overhear their parent’s conversations. Students see that graduation is not a result of better performance. Employees discuss how their paychecks no longer keep up with inflation at the water cooler. Local officials are powerless in preventing homelessness. Entrepreneurs seek wealthy buyers rather than build the company. Farmers sell their land to the developer to fund their retirement. Get mine and get it now.
How does all this affect the personal contract? Let’s take a neighborly example. Most people have property lines, but they are frequently not well-defined. A row of trees or shrubs typically distinguishes where one property begins and another ends. Good neighbors generally cooperate and do not encroach on each other’s property. That is until Neighbor A wants to sell or improve the value of their property by building a fence that happens to extend onto the property of Neighbor B. A personal contract, either formal or informal, should be agreed upon before construction. The assumption is that good neighbors inform each other of their intentions. This is the way the world should work and the basis of the personal contract.
However, what used to be assumed is no longer the case with the erosion of the social contract. Neighbor A is going to do whatever he pleases, and nobody can stop him. Call the police? They will file a report. Lawsuit? Sure, but it will cost you. As the personal contract breaks down, so does the social fabric. Your employer wants you to provide your financial history as a condition for employment. It’s none of their business, you say. Doesn’t matter. You must provide it or lose your job. The city where you live has just banned gasoline powered chain saws and mowers. You must now either buy expensive new electric equipment or pay someone else to do it. Can you vote the city council out? The election is not for another three years, they can do whatever they want. The lobbyists will continue to fund their climate candidates in the next election. What happens when the basic interactions between human beings can no longer be trusted? When ordinary citizens can no longer count on institutions to look out for them; when personal contracts are meaningless and hold no weight, when only an elite minority can make decisions. The personal contract is broken when things start to break, and nobody can or will fix them; when you call for help and nobody responds, when your neighbor sets up a drug lab next door and your neighbors are too afraid to report it. The personal contract is on life support. Yet, there is always another distraction to take your mind off the breakdown of society. The institutions will cancel you or bribe you to stay quiet. There will be plenty of entertainment for the masses while they slowly squeeze the liberty out of your soul. What we engage with becomes our life. What we tolerate becomes the least common denominator for our communities.
Mark Doggett, PHD
About Mark
Education: Doctorate at Colorado State University Interdisciplinary Studies with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Technology from California State University Fresno.
Mark has twenty years of experience in higher education with thirteen years as a full-time educator. Twenty years of experience in business and industry including defense aerospace, food and beverage manufacturing, farm and irrigation products.
To contact Mark, email mark.doggett@wku.edu.