Trump's Policies Present a Risk to Civilized Society.
His national and international initiatives – from the effort to overturn the election previously to current actions and threats – undermine both national and global law. However, the issue goes deeper.
They endanger the core idea of civilization itself.
The guiding principle of civilized society is to stop the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Failing that, we risk being permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest could survive.
This concept lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the heart of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the US, emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
But, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their authority. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that society demand responsibility if they don't.
Unchecked strength does not make right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and war.
Every time people or corporations or countries that are advantaged target and use those that are not, the framework of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are left unchecked, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.
We now inhabit a international landscape with deepening divides. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in recent memory. This invites the powerful to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.
The resources of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers a vast portion of the world. AI is could consolidate economic and political clout further. The military might of the world's largest nations is unprecedented in the annals of time.
Supported by political allies and a pliant high court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of government in recent memory.
Put it all together and you perceive the threat.
A direct line links past lawless actions to current threats. Both were based on the arrogance of invincibility.
You see much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.
However, unfettered might does not make right. It produces fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.
The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to constrain the influential also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches ultimately bring them down – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk world war.
This kind of disregard for rules will haunt America and the global community – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for years to come.
