Donald Trump's Approach Pose a Danger to Civilized Society.
His domestic and foreign policies – from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to recent actions and warnings – weaken both national and global jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions jeopardize the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
The moral purpose of a functioning society is to forestall the dominant from attacking and exploiting the less powerful. Without this, we could find ourselves locked in a brutish war where survival of the strongest wins.
This ideal is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the heart of the global system established after WWII advocated by the United States, built on international cooperation, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a vulnerable ideal, often broken by those who choose to misuse their influence. Upholding it necessitates that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that society ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Absolute power is not right. It results in uncertainty, upheaval, and conflict.
Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged target and use those that are not, the framework of society frays. If these actions are left unchecked, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.
We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in modern history. This invites the elite to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of above the law.
The wealth of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans numerous countries. Advanced technology is could consolidate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the major powers is unmatched in the annals of time.
Enabled by complicit legislators and a sympathetic high court, the presidency has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked entity of the state in recent memory.
Put it all together and you perceive the looming crisis.
An unbroken thread ties previous breaches of norms to ongoing menaces. Both were premised on the overconfidence of absolute power.
One observes much the same in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, strength without restraint does not create right. It produces instability, upended order, and armed conflict.
History shows that frameworks designed to constrain the influential also shield them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth ultimately lead to their downfall – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten global conflict.
This kind of disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and indeed civilization – for a long time.
