Donald Trump's Actions Pose a Danger to Civilized Society.
His domestic and foreign policies – from the attempted coup in the past to latest incursions and statements – erode not only national and global legal frameworks. The implications are broader.
They threaten the very concept of a civilized world.
A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to stop the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Without this, we would be trapped in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest could survive.
This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the postwar international order supported by the US, built on international cooperation, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
But, it is a vulnerable principle, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their power. Upholding it demands that the those in charge have the moral fortitude 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 uncertainty, disruption, and war.
Whenever entities that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the fabric of our shared norms frays. If such aggression are left unchecked, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.
Today, we live in a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than ever before. This creates conditions for the elite to leverage their position against the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The resources of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants extends over a vast portion of the world. AI is likely to further concentrate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is without parallel in human history.
Empowered by complicit legislators and an accommodating judicial body, the executive office has been turned into the most dominant and unchecked entity of the state in the modern era.
Consider this confluence and you grasp the looming crisis.
A clear connection ties past lawless actions to ongoing threats. These were based on the overconfidence of invincibility.
One observes a similar pattern in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.
However, strength without restraint does not make right. It produces fragility, upheaval, and bloodshed.
The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to check the powerful also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth eventually lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.
Such lawlessness will haunt the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.