Donald Trump's Approach Present a Threat to Civilization.
The domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the attempted coup five years ago to latest incursions and threats – weaken both domestic and international jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions endanger the very concept of a civilized world.
The ethical foundation of civilized society is to stop the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest wins.
This principle lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It is equally the core of the postwar international order supported by the US, built on multilateralism, popular sovereignty, human rights, and the legal authority.
But, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who seek to abuse their influence. Preserving it requires that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that society demand responsibility should they falter.
Absolute power does not equal right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and conflict.
Every time entities that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are less so, the framework of civilization weakens. If these actions are not contained, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a global community marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the less fortunate because they act with a sense of untouchable.
The fortunes of a handful of billionaires is staggering. The influence of global industrial giants extends over much of the globe. AI is poised to centralize wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is without parallel in human history.
Enabled by political allies and a sympathetic high court, the presidency has been made into the most dominant and unchecked agent of the state in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you grasp the looming crisis.
A clear connection connects past breaches of norms to ongoing provocations. These were based on the arrogance of omnipotence.
You see parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
But, raw power does not make right. It produces uncertainty, revolution, and war.
The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to check the influential also protect them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches ultimately lead to their downfall – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten global conflict.
This blatant lawlessness will plague international stability – and indeed civilization – for the foreseeable future.
