Donald Trump's Approach Present a Danger to Civilization.
His domestic and foreign initiatives – from the attempted coup previously to latest incursions and threats – erode not only domestic and international legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They threaten the very concept of civilization itself.
A ethical foundation of civilized society is to forestall the stronger from preying upon and using the less powerful. Otherwise, we risk being trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest could survive.
This ideal lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the global system established after WWII supported by the United States, emphasizing multilateralism, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who seek to abuse their power. Maintaining it necessitates that the those in charge have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us hold them accountable when they fail.
Absolute power does not make right. It results in uncertainty, upheaval, and hostilities.
Whenever entities that are advantaged prey upon those that are not, the structure of our shared norms unravels. If these actions are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. It has happened before.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This encourages the privileged to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel omnipotent.
The wealth of a handful of billionaires is almost beyond comprehension. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over numerous countries. AI is poised to consolidate resources and influence even more. The military might of the leading countries is unprecedented in the annals of time.
Enabled by a compliant faction and a pliant supreme court, the highest office has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of the state in history.
Consider this confluence and you see the threat.
A direct line ties earlier breaches of norms to present-day menaces. Both were founded upon the overconfidence of omnipotence.
You see parallel dynamics in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.
But, raw power does not establish right. It produces instability, upended order, and armed conflict.
Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to limit the powerful also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources ultimately bring them down – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk world war.
Such disregard for rules will haunt America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for a long time.
