Trump's Actions Present a Danger to Civilization.
The domestic and foreign strategies – including the effort to overturn the election five years ago to recent moves and warnings – erode not only domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions jeopardize the very concept of civilization itself.
A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to forestall the more powerful from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we could find ourselves locked in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This concept is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the heart of the modern framework of international relations supported by the America, built on multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
Yet, it is a fragile ideal, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it demands that the powerful have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Absolute power is not right. It results in instability, upheaval, and conflict.
Each instance people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are left unchecked, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This creates conditions for the elite to take advantage of the weaker because they feel omnipotent.
The resources of a handful of tycoons is staggering. The reach of global industrial giants covers much of the globe. Advanced technology is poised to centralize resources and influence to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is unmatched in human history.
Supported by political allies and an accommodating high court, the highest office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of the state in the modern era.
Consider this confluence and you see the threat.
An unbroken thread links past lawless actions to present-day menaces. Both were based on the hubris of absolute power.
There is much the same in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.
Yet, raw power does not make right. It produces instability, revolution, and war.
The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to constrain the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for increased control and resources eventually cause their collapse – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.
This kind of contempt for legal order will plague international stability – and indeed civilization – for years to come.
