Trump's Actions Pose a Threat to Civilization.
His domestic and foreign strategies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to current actions and threats – undermine both national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They threaten the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
The moral purpose of a functioning society is to prevent the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Failing that, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest wins.
This principle is central of America’s founding documents. This is also the heart of the modern framework of international relations supported by the US, emphasizing international cooperation, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
But, it is a fragile construct, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their authority. Maintaining it demands that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.
Absolute power does not make right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and war.
Every time entities that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are weaker, the structure of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can descend into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a global community with deepening divides. Authority and resources are more concentrated than ever before. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of untouchable.
The wealth of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The power of global industrial giants extends over numerous countries. Advanced technology is likely to consolidate wealth and power even more. The military might of the world's largest nations is unmatched in the annals of time.
Empowered by complicit legislators and a sympathetic supreme court, the executive office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of the state in recent memory.
Consider this confluence and you perceive the looming crisis.
A direct line ties previous transgressions to current provocations. These were based on the hubris of omnipotence.
You see a similar pattern in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.
However, raw power does not create right. It produces uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to limit the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources eventually cause their collapse – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten global conflict.
This kind of lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and indeed civilization – for a long time.
