Trump's Actions Present a Danger to Civilized Society.
His internal and external strategies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to latest moves and statements – erode not only national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They jeopardize the very concept of what we mean by.
A ethical foundation of civilized society is to stop the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Failing that, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a brutish war where only the fittest could survive.
This ideal lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the heart of the postwar international order supported by the United States, built on multilateralism, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
Yet, it is a fragile principle, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it demands that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to uncertainty, upheaval, and conflict.
Each instance people or corporations or countries that are advantaged prey upon those that are weaker, the fabric of civilization weakens. If such aggression are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a global community grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel untouchable.
The resources of a handful of tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers a vast portion of the world. AI is likely to centralize wealth and power even more. The military might of the major powers is unmatched in recorded history.
Supported by a compliant faction and a sympathetic high court, the highest office has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of the state in recent memory.
Combine these factors and you perceive the danger.
A clear connection ties past lawless actions to current provocations. Both were premised on the arrogance of absolute power.
One observes a similar pattern in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.
However, unfettered might does not establish right. It makes for instability, revolution, and bloodshed.
History shows that frameworks designed to limit the influential also protect them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.
This kind of lawlessness will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.
