Donald Trump's Policies Present a Threat to Civilized Society.
His national and international policies – including the attempted coup previously to recent incursions and threats – weaken not only national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.
They endanger the core idea of what we mean by.
A moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Failing that, we would be permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest prevails.
This ideal is embedded of America’s founding documents. It is equally the core of the global system established after WWII supported by the United States, built on international cooperation, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
However, it is a vulnerable ideal, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their power. Preserving it demands that the powerful have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility if they don't.
Unchecked strength is not right. It leads to uncertainty, disruption, and hostilities.
Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are not, the structure of society weakens. If these actions are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This invites the powerful to leverage their position against the weaker because they act with a sense of above the law.
The fortunes of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is likely to further concentrate economic and political clout further. The destructive power of the leading countries is unprecedented in human history.
Supported by political allies and a sympathetic high court, the executive office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of state power in recent memory.
Consider this confluence and you perceive the looming crisis.
A clear connection connects past transgressions to current menaces. These were premised on the arrogance of absolute power.
One observes much the same in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.
But, raw power does not make right. It makes for fragility, upended order, and armed conflict.
The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources in time bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.
Such lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.