Donald Trump's Approach Constitute a Risk to Our Social Fabric.
His national and international initiatives – including the challenge to the democratic process previously to recent incursions and warnings – weaken not only domestic and international jurisprudence. The implications are broader.
These actions jeopardize the very concept of civilization itself.
The guiding principle of any advanced culture is to prevent the stronger from preying upon and using the vulnerable. Otherwise, we risk being locked in a state of nature where might makes right prevails.
This principle is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the heart of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the US, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
But, it is a delicate ideal, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their power. Preserving it demands that the influential have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable when they fail.
Unchecked strength is not right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and war.
Whenever people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are not, the framework of civilization frays. If such aggression are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can descend into instability and violence. It has happened before.
Our current reality is a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are more concentrated than ever before. This creates conditions for the privileged to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they feel untouchable.
The wealth of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is could further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the major powers is unprecedented in human history.
Enabled by political allies and a pliant high court, the presidency has been made into the most dominant and unchecked entity of government in recent memory.
Put it all together and you see the looming crisis.
A clear connection ties earlier lawless actions to current threats. These were premised on the overconfidence of invincibility.
You see parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, strength without restraint does not make right. It produces uncertainty, upended order, and bloodshed.
History shows that frameworks designed to limit the influential also shield them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches eventually bring them down – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.
Such contempt for legal order will cast a long shadow over international stability – and indeed civilized conduct – for the foreseeable future.
