Donald Trump's Approach Pose a Danger to Civilized Society.
The internal and external policies – including the attempted coup five years ago to current moves and threats – undermine not only domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.
They endanger the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Without this, we risk being locked in a conflict of all against all where might makes right wins.
This ideal is central of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the postwar international order advocated by the United States, which stresses international cooperation, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.
But, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who seek to abuse their authority. Upholding it requires that the powerful have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Absolute power is not right. It leads to uncertainty, upheaval, and hostilities.
Every time people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are weaker, the fabric of civilization frays. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into chaos and war. It has happened before.
Today, we live in a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This creates conditions for the elite to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they feel untouchable.
The fortunes of a small group of billionaires is difficult to fathom. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is poised to consolidate resources and influence further. The military might of the major powers is without parallel in recorded history.
Empowered by political allies and a sympathetic high court, the highest office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none agent of the state in the modern era.
Put it all together and you see the danger.
A clear connection ties previous lawless actions to present-day threats. Both were based on the arrogance of invincibility.
There is much the same in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
However, raw power does not establish right. It produces fragility, revolution, and war.
History shows that rules and conventions to limit the influential also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth ultimately lead to their downfall – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten international catastrophe.
This blatant lawlessness will haunt America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for years to come.