Trump's Policies Present a Risk to Civilization.
His national and international strategies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election five years ago to current incursions and statements – undermine both national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They endanger the very concept of what we mean by.
A guiding principle of a functioning society is to prevent the more powerful from preying upon and using the vulnerable. Without this, we risk being locked in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest could survive.
This ideal lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the core of the postwar international order supported by the America, built on international cooperation, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
Yet, it is a delicate principle, often broken by those who would exploit their authority. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking short-term wins, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to turmoil, chaos, and war.
Whenever entities that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are weaker, the structure of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are not contained, the system fails. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. It has happened before.
Today, we live in a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than in modern history. This encourages the elite to leverage their position against the weaker because they feel untouchable.
The fortunes of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over a vast portion of the world. AI is could further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the major powers is unprecedented in human history.
Supported by complicit legislators and a sympathetic supreme court, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of state power in recent memory.
Combine these factors and you see the threat.
A clear connection links previous lawless actions to present-day provocations. Both were founded upon the hubris of invincibility.
One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.
But, raw power does not make right. It fosters uncertainty, upheaval, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the influential also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.
Such disregard for rules will haunt the nation and the world – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.
