Trump's Policies Present a Threat to Civilized Society.
His internal and external strategies – from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to current incursions and warnings – weaken not only national and global jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions jeopardize the core idea of civilization itself.
The guiding principle of civilized society is to stop the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Failing that, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where survival of the strongest prevails.
This concept is central of the nation's founding texts. This is also the core of the postwar international order supported by the United States, emphasizing collective action, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
But, it is a vulnerable ideal, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their power. Upholding it requires that the influential have enough integrity to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the public hold them accountable should they falter.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It results in turmoil, upheaval, and war.
Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are weaker, the structure of our shared norms weakens. Should such behavior are not contained, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.
Our current reality is a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in modern history. This encourages the elite to take advantage of the less fortunate because they act with a sense of above the law.
The fortunes of certain billionaires is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over much of the globe. AI is could consolidate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The destructive power of the leading countries is without parallel in recorded history.
Enabled by political allies and a sympathetic supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in the modern era.
Put it all together and you see the threat.
A clear connection links past breaches of norms to present-day threats. Each were based on the arrogance of absolute power.
You see much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.
But, strength without restraint does not create right. It produces uncertainty, upheaval, and armed conflict.
History shows that frameworks designed to constrain the influential also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth in time lead to their downfall – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for international catastrophe.
This blatant contempt for legal order will plague international stability – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.
