Is Trust a Virtue?

I heard a lecture the other day concerning need for trust when opposing parties negotiate. It got me thinking, a rare occurence, and being a contrarian I've decided that trust has gotten way too much praise.
    Democracy depends on distrust. The lazy voter accepts the sound bite, the stump speech, or the opinions of the guys at the golf course. The voter whose active distrust goes after the truth is the voter who serves her society. Because time is limited, we have institutions to do our distrusting for us. One is the free press. Additionally, distrust is the job of regulatory agencies. Only when their distrust is active and thorough, can we be sure that the food is safe, the toys are free of lead, and the loans are fair.
    This points to a trust/distrust paradox in social life. Only when distrust does its job on the regulatory level can the individual trust the food, the toys, or the financial products. Distrust enables trust. These examples also point to the fact that trust cannot be separated from considerations of power. Regulatory distrust of the powerful is moral in that it protects the poor, the sick, the elderly, and so on.
    It is clear in our personal lives that distrust is often a moral imperative. I distrust the stranger who offers to take my child for a car ride, as I do the guy who knocks on my door with his new investment scheme. I have a family to care for, and beyond them I have a society to worry about too. My distrust of these guys is my love and concern in action.
    Trust has had a long run as a virtue. We think kindly of the "trusting soul," although of course we don't really want to be him. And we shouldn't feel guilty about it. Perhaps trust has been confused with religious Faith, sneaking along in its coattails. Whatever the status of Faith in attitudes toward the great beyond, trust is about the here and now and it is often a bad thing. Active and properly directed distrust serves the social order and encourages other virtues such as honesty. Distrust is often the proper form taken by compassion, charity, and love.