Trump's Actions Present a Risk to Civilization.
His internal and external strategies – ranging from the attempted coup five years ago to current moves and threats – undermine not only national and global legal frameworks. The implications are broader.
They jeopardize the core idea of what we mean by.
The moral purpose of any advanced culture is to forestall the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Otherwise, we risk being permanently immersed in a state of nature where survival of the strongest prevails.
This concept is central of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the heart of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the United States, emphasizing collective action, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
But, it is a delicate principle, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their influence. Upholding it necessitates that the powerful have enough integrity to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.
Absolute power is not right. It results in uncertainty, upheaval, and war.
Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged target and use those that are not, the fabric of civilization weakens. If such aggression are not contained, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into instability and violence. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a global community grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel omnipotent.
The fortunes of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is likely to further concentrate economic and political clout further. The military might of the world's largest nations is unmatched in human history.
Enabled by political allies and a pliant judicial body, the presidency has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in recent memory.
Put it all together and you see the threat.
A clear connection links previous breaches of norms to present-day menaces. Both were based on the arrogance of invincibility.
You see a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
But, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters fragility, revolution, and war.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also shield them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk international catastrophe.
Such lawlessness will haunt the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.
