Trump's Approach Pose a Risk to Civilization.
His internal and external policies – including the challenge to the democratic process in the past to recent moves and statements – erode both domestic and international legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.
A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to prevent the more powerful from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we risk being permanently immersed in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.
This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations championed by the US, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.
Yet, it is a vulnerable ideal, often broken by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it requires that the powerful have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to uncertainty, upheaval, and hostilities.
Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are less so, the structure of society weakens. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.
Today, we live in a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This creates conditions for the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The fortunes of certain billionaires is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers numerous countries. Advanced technology is poised to consolidate wealth and power even more. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is unmatched in the annals of time.
Supported by a compliant faction and a sympathetic supreme court, the executive office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of state power in recent memory.
Put it all together and you see the threat.
A direct line links past breaches of norms to ongoing menaces. Each were founded upon the hubris of omnipotence.
One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.
But, strength without restraint does not establish right. It makes for instability, upended order, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to check the influential also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.
This blatant lawlessness will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and indeed a rules-based order – for the foreseeable future.
