Trump's Policies Present a Danger to Civilized Society.
His domestic and foreign initiatives – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process previously to recent incursions and warnings – erode both domestic and international legal frameworks. But that’s not all.
They endanger the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.
The guiding principle of a functioning society is to forestall the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest could survive.
This ideal lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, built on international cooperation, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
Yet, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Maintaining it requires that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility if they don't.
Unchecked strength is not right. It results in turmoil, disruption, and hostilities.
Each instance people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are weaker, the fabric of civilization unravels. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
We now inhabit a society and world grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are more concentrated than ever before. This creates conditions for the privileged to take advantage of the weaker because they feel above the law.
The resources of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The reach of global industrial giants covers much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is likely to further concentrate wealth and power even more. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is without parallel in recorded history.
Enabled by a compliant faction and an accommodating supreme court, the highest office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked agent of the state in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you see the threat.
A direct line links past breaches of norms to current threats. These were founded upon the hubris of invincibility.
One observes a similar pattern in international affairs: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.
However, unfettered might does not make right. It produces fragility, upended order, and bloodshed.
History shows that laws and norms to check the powerful also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for increased control and resources ultimately lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for international catastrophe.
This blatant disregard for rules will haunt the nation and the world – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for the foreseeable future.
