Donald Trump's Actions Constitute a Risk to Civilized Society.
The national and international policies – including the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to current incursions and threats – erode both domestic and international legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They jeopardize the very concept of civilization itself.
A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we risk being permanently immersed in a brutish war where only the fittest prevails.
This concept is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the heart of the postwar international order championed by the US, emphasizing collective action, democracy, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
Yet, it is a fragile principle, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it demands that the influential have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility when they fail.
Unchecked strength is not right. It makes for turmoil, upheaval, and war.
Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are less so, the fabric of society weakens. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a society and world with deepening divides. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This creates conditions for the elite to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they act with a sense of above the law.
The wealth of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate resources and influence to a greater degree. The military might of the leading countries is unmatched in the annals of time.
Empowered by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the presidency has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none agent of government in history.
Consider this confluence and you perceive the danger.
A clear connection ties earlier breaches of norms to ongoing threats. Both were premised on the overconfidence of absolute power.
You see parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.
However, unfettered might does not create right. It produces instability, upended order, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the influential also protect them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources eventually bring them down – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten international catastrophe.
This blatant disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over international stability – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for years to come.
