Donald Trump's Actions Present a Threat to Civilization.
His internal and external strategies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election in the past to current actions and threats – weaken both national and global jurisprudence. But that’s not all.
They jeopardize the core idea of civilization itself.
A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to prevent the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Failing that, we risk being permanently immersed in a state of nature where might makes right prevails.
This concept is embedded of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the postwar international order championed by the America, emphasizing international cooperation, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, often broken by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it requires that the those in charge have enough integrity to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.
Unfettered might does not make right. It results in instability, upheaval, and hostilities.
Each instance entities that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms weakens. Should such behavior are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can fall into instability and violence. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a society and world with deepening divides. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in modern history. This encourages the powerful to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they feel above the law.
The fortunes of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants extends over numerous countries. AI is could further concentrate economic and political clout further. The military might of the major powers is unmatched in recorded history.
Empowered by complicit legislators and a pliant supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of government in recent memory.
Combine these factors and you see the looming crisis.
A clear connection links earlier lawless actions to ongoing threats. These were founded upon the hubris of absolute power.
There is parallel dynamics in international affairs: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
However, raw power does not make right. It fosters uncertainty, upheaval, and war.
History shows that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also shield them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches eventually cause their collapse – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk global conflict.
This kind of disregard for rules will plague international stability – and the very idea of civilization – for a long time.