The Auron MacIntyre Show HOAs as an Artificial High-Trust Society | 12/4/25
7 snips
Dec 4, 2025 Homeowners' associations are discussed as modern attempts to recreate high-trust communities, despite their notorious reputations. The podcast explores how cultural understanding and social cues once fostered mutual trust, now replaced by legal contracts. Auron delves into the decline of neighborhood camaraderie, emphasizing that as diversity increases, reliance on formal authority grows. The tradeoff between security and coercion in HOA rules is scrutinized, revealing a complex relationship between community dynamics and political structures.
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HOAs Recreate Social Trust
- HOAs recreate lost social trust by legally enforcing standards that used to be culturally shared.
- Auron Macintyre argues this contractual enforcement mimics the benefits of organic high-trust neighborhoods.
Shared Expectations Enable Self-Policing
- High-trust communities rely on shared expectations and informal social enforcement like shame and exclusion.
- Auron Macintyre explains low intervention is possible when neighbors broadly agree on conduct and maintenance.
Preconditions For High Trust
- Preconditions for high trust include common standards, safe neighbor-to-neighbor confrontation, and social stakes.
- Auron Macintyre links the breakdown of these preconditions to declining neighborhood cohesion.
