Trump's Approach Pose a Risk to Civilized Society.
His internal and external initiatives – including the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to recent moves and threats – erode not only national and global jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions threaten the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.
A moral purpose of civilized society is to stop the stronger from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we would be trapped in a state of nature where survival of the strongest prevails.
This principle is embedded of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the core of the modern framework of international relations supported by the America, emphasizing international cooperation, democracy, human rights, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a fragile ideal, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their power. Upholding it necessitates that the those in charge have enough integrity to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us demand responsibility should they falter.
Unfettered might does not make right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and hostilities.
Whenever entities that are advantaged target and use those that are less so, the fabric of civilization frays. If these actions are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into instability and violence. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in modern history. This encourages the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The wealth of a handful of billionaires is difficult to fathom. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over much of the globe. Advanced technology is likely to further concentrate economic and political clout further. The destructive power of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.
Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic high court, the executive office has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in history.
Combine these factors and you see the looming crisis.
A clear connection connects earlier lawless actions to ongoing menaces. Each were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.
There is a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
However, unfettered might does not make right. It fosters uncertainty, upheaval, and armed conflict.
Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to limit the influential also shield them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk global conflict.
Such disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.