The ongoing struggle to extend in-group trust to out-group members.
Or, the ongoing struggle to extend the cooperation demonstrated between consanguineous relations, to beyond those relations, such that it is possible for us to evolve a division of knowledge and labor, in which there is as little risk of misappropriation of our efforts in the market, as there is within the consanguineous family. While inside the family free riding is a form of mutual insurance, manageable by threat of deprivation and ostracization, the fact remains that one’s genetic kin prosper even at the cost of unequal distribution of gains and losses. But outside the kin, the same free riding, and unequal distribution of gains and losses, is neither of benefit to kin, nor controllable by ostracization and deprivation. There is always another group to prey upon if one is mobile enough. And it takes but a minority of predators engaging in immoral activity to render all external trust intolerable, and thereby undermine the people’s economy, polity, and competitive survival.
Simple property
If it was hard to create the institution of simple-private-property such that we could prosecute and suppress the crimes of violence and theft.
Low trust private property
If it was hard to create the institution of low-trust private property such that we could prosecute and suppress the crimes of fraud and blackmail.
High trust warrantied private property
It was hard to create the institution of high-trust, warrantied, private property such that we could prosecute and suppress the crimes of fraud by omission, negligence, and externalization.
High Trust Political Institutions
It was hard to create the formal institutions of high political trust american classical liberalism in an attempt to suppress corruption in government, all forms of free riding.
“Perfect-Trust” Informal and Formal Institutions
So, the why would it not be even more difficult to create formal and informal institutions such that we could prosecute and suppress the crimes of deception by obscurantism, mysticism and loading?
Because cooperation across reproductive strategies is impossible without trust that operates independently of our differences in property rights.