Donald Trump's Policies Present a Threat to Civilization.
The national and international strategies – from the effort to overturn the election previously to latest actions and statements – undermine not only national and global law. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions jeopardize the very concept of what we mean by.
The guiding principle of a functioning society is to forestall the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Without this, we risk being trapped in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This concept is embedded of America’s founding documents. It’s also the foundation of the global system established after WWII championed by the America, which stresses collective action, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
But, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who would exploit their influence. Maintaining it requires that the influential have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.
Absolute power does not equal right. It makes for uncertainty, disruption, and hostilities.
Each instance people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the fabric of our shared norms weakens. If these actions are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into instability and violence. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a society and world grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are more concentrated than ever before. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The resources of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over numerous countries. Advanced technology is likely to further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the world's largest nations is unmatched in human history.
Empowered by complicit legislators and an accommodating supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of government in history.
Combine these factors and you see the threat.
A clear connection links past lawless actions to present-day threats. Both were based on the hubris of invincibility.
You see much the same in international affairs: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.
But, strength without restraint does not create right. It fosters fragility, upended order, and armed conflict.
History shows that laws and norms to limit the powerful also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches eventually bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for world war.
Such lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of civilization – for years to come.
