Donald Trump's Approach Constitute a Threat to Civilized Society.
The domestic and foreign strategies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election in the past to recent actions and threats – erode both national and global law. But that’s not all.
They threaten the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
A moral purpose of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Without this, we could find ourselves locked in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.
This ideal is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the foundation of the postwar international order championed by the United States, built on collective action, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
Yet, it is a delicate ideal, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their influence. Upholding it requires that the those in charge have a sense of duty to refrain from seeking short-term wins, and that society demand responsibility if they don't.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It results in uncertainty, upheaval, and hostilities.
Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are less so, the framework of civilization frays. If these actions are allowed to continue, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.
We now inhabit a society and world grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than ever before. This invites the elite to take advantage of the weaker because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.
The fortunes of certain tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The power of global industrial giants covers numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is poised to further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the world's largest nations is unmatched in recorded history.
Supported by political allies and a sympathetic judicial body, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of government in recent memory.
Put it all together and you perceive the looming crisis.
A clear connection links earlier transgressions to current provocations. Each were premised on the hubris of invincibility.
There is much the same in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.
However, unfettered might does not make right. It produces fragility, upended order, and armed conflict.
The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to limit the influential also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.
This blatant lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.
