Trump's Approach Present a Risk to Civilized Society.
The internal and external initiatives – including the challenge to the democratic process previously to recent moves and warnings – weaken both domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.
They jeopardize the very concept of a civilized world.
The ethical foundation of civilized society is to forestall the more powerful from preying upon and using the weaker. Without this, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest prevails.
This concept is central of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the modern framework of international relations championed by the United States, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
Yet, it is a fragile construct, often broken by those who choose to misuse their influence. Preserving it necessitates that the influential have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that society demand responsibility when they fail.
Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to turmoil, disruption, and conflict.
Each instance entities that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are less so, the structure of society unravels. If these actions are allowed to continue, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.
We now inhabit a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than ever before. This encourages the powerful to exploit the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The fortunes of a handful of billionaires is staggering. The power of global industrial giants covers numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is poised to centralize resources and influence further. The offensive capability of the major powers is unprecedented in the annals of time.
Supported by a compliant faction and a pliant high court, the highest office has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked agent of state power in recent memory.
Combine these factors and you see the danger.
A direct line connects earlier transgressions to present-day menaces. Both were based on the overconfidence of omnipotence.
You see parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.
But, raw power does not establish right. It makes for uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to check the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth ultimately lead to their downfall – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for world war.
Such contempt for legal order will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.
