QotD: "The concept that one could trust a gentleman in business to act in accordance with his unsubstantiated word now seems impressively historic, quant and pitifully naive."

"The spirit of [this] early period I have characterised as 'realistic idealism between gentlemen in business' [the relationship resting upon trust, and the capacity to be trusted] ...     "The concept that one could trust a gentleman in business to act in accordance with his unsubstantiated word now seems impressively historic, quant and pitifully naive. A parallel collapse in the confident assumption that one can trust a chartered accountant to protect their clients' interests and money, or a solicitor to recommend that a client behave in accordance with common decency and natural justice, leads me to a profound unease when considering the future of our social polity." 

    ~ musician Robert Fripp, in the liner notes to his band's 1997 Epitaph.