I wonder if the reason we distrust our institutions is because we almost worship them. As I've watched the society become more atheistic, I've watched it look more and more to the human institutions to replace what it lost. All the grandeur and power we expected of a god is missing. Instead we see corrupt humans just like us doing corrupt things. Every time something bad happens, we scream for the government to do something. We don't hold the person accountable; we hold the tool. When the government does something and it has unintended consequences, we get mad that they didn't forsee it coming or we get mad that they knew what would happen and just wanted steal even more power. The same is true for financial institutions. We expect them to magically make money and prosperity for our stocks. We give them grand titles and powers. Then they fail. We gnash our teeth and curse these Titans of industry.