Trump's Actions Constitute a Threat to Civilization.
His internal and external initiatives β from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to latest incursions and threats β erode not only national and global law. But thatβs not all.
These actions jeopardize the core idea of a civilized world.
The moral purpose of any advanced culture is to forestall the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a state of nature where might makes right could survive.
This ideal lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the heart of the postwar international order advocated by the US, emphasizing multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their authority. Upholding it necessitates that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that society ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.
Unchecked strength is not right. It makes for turmoil, upheaval, and hostilities.
Every time people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are weaker, the framework of society weakens. If such aggression are left unchecked, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.
We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This encourages the powerful to exploit the less fortunate because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The wealth of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is could further concentrate resources and influence even more. The military might of the world's largest nations is unmatched in recorded history.
Enabled by complicit legislators and a sympathetic judicial body, the executive office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of state power in the modern era.
Put it all together and you perceive the danger.
An unbroken thread links previous transgressions to ongoing threats. These were based on the hubris of absolute power.
One observes parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.
Yet, strength without restraint does not make right. It makes for fragility, revolution, and war.
History shows that frameworks designed to constrain the powerful also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches in time bring them down β and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.
This kind of contempt for legal order will haunt international stability β and the very idea of a rules-based order β for a long time.
