I think it's quite natural to trust individuals over systems and institutions. After all, in the eons when humans evolved, we dealt only with individuals, not with systems and institutions (which are relatively recent inventions). Interestingly, the most successful modern societies are those that have what's known as a large radius of trust, i.e., people are more likely to trust strangers than they are in societies with a small radius of trust, where people mostly trust only their own kinfolk (see the book "Trust" by Francis Fukuyama). In a society with a large radius of trust, people trade more freely, travel more widely, are more likely to solve problems and settle conflicts through non-violent means, and build stronger associations; in short, they have a stronger civil society (which I think is a precondition for a fully voluntary society where people won't turn to government to solve every problem that arises). I think that one of the big challenges we all face these days it not to trade locally but to build trading links and trust networks that span the globe over a medium (the Internet) that inherently has a small radius of trust (think spam, viruses, phishing, scammers, great firewalls, censorship, and other forms of attack). I think your agora is a step in the right direction. We need to use that as a model for an even stronger, wider, more vibrant space for the exchange of ideas, information, goods, and services. But more on that some other time. :)