Trump's Actions Pose a Threat to Civilization.
The internal and external initiatives – ranging from the attempted coup in the past to latest incursions and threats – undermine not only national and global jurisprudence. But that’s not all.
These actions jeopardize the core idea of civilization itself.
The moral purpose of civilized society is to stop the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we would be trapped in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This concept is embedded of America’s founding documents. This is also the heart of the postwar international order supported by the United States, which stresses multilateralism, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
Yet, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who would exploit their authority. Maintaining it necessitates that the powerful have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable when they fail.
Unchecked strength does not make right. It makes for instability, chaos, and conflict.
Whenever people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are less so, the fabric of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.
We now inhabit a global community marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The wealth of certain billionaires is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers numerous countries. AI is likely to centralize economic and political clout to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is without parallel in the annals of time.
Supported by a compliant faction and a pliant high court, the executive office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of government in the modern era.
Put it all together and you perceive the danger.
A direct line links previous transgressions to ongoing menaces. Each were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.
There is a similar pattern in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.
However, unfettered might does not establish right. It produces fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches in time cause their collapse – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.
Such lawlessness will haunt international stability – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for years to come.