Donald Trump's Approach Present a Danger to Civilization.
His internal and external policies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process previously to current incursions and threats – weaken both domestic and international legal frameworks. The implications are broader.
These actions jeopardize the core idea of what we mean by.
The ethical foundation of civilized society is to stop the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Without this, we would be locked in a brutish war where might makes right wins.
This principle is central of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the postwar international order supported by the United States, which stresses multilateralism, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a fragile construct, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their authority. Preserving it demands that the influential have enough integrity to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Absolute power is not right. It makes for turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.
Every time entities that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are not, the fabric of society frays. If such aggression are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. It has happened before.
Our current reality is a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they feel omnipotent.
The resources of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The power of global industrial giants covers numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is poised to consolidate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the major powers is unmatched in human history.
Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the highest office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of government in recent memory.
Consider this confluence and you see the danger.
A clear connection connects previous breaches of norms to current provocations. Both were premised on the arrogance of omnipotence.
One observes much the same in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by massive conglomerates.
However, raw power does not create right. It fosters fragility, upheaval, and war.
History shows that frameworks designed to limit the powerful also shield them. Without such constraints, their endless appetite for increased control and resources in time bring them down – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for world war.
This blatant contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over international stability – and the very idea of civilization – for a long time.
