Trump's Approach Present a Threat to Civilization.
His domestic and foreign strategies – including the attempted coup in the past to recent moves and warnings – erode not only domestic and international law. The implications are broader.
They endanger the very concept of civilization itself.
A guiding principle of a functioning society is to prevent the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Without this, we would be permanently immersed in a brutish war where survival of the strongest prevails.
This concept lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
However, it is a fragile ideal, often broken by those who seek to abuse their authority. Preserving it requires that the influential have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that society hold them accountable should they falter.
Absolute power does not equal right. It results in turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.
Each instance entities that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are not, the framework of civilization unravels. If such aggression are not contained, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.
Today, we live in a international landscape with deepening divides. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This encourages the elite to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The wealth 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 much of the globe. Advanced technology is could centralize resources and influence even more. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unprecedented in the annals of time.
Empowered by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the executive office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of the state in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you perceive the danger.
A direct line connects earlier lawless actions to present-day threats. These were premised on the arrogance of omnipotence.
There is a similar pattern in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.
However, unfettered might does not establish right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and war.
Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to check the influential also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources ultimately lead to their downfall – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten world war.
Such contempt for legal order will plague America and the global community – and indeed civilization – for the foreseeable future.
