Trump's Approach Present a Threat to Civilization.
The national and international policies – ranging from the attempted coup in the past to latest incursions and statements – erode not only national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions threaten the very concept of civilization itself.
A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where might makes right wins.
This ideal is embedded of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the heart of the global system established after WWII advocated by the United States, built on international cooperation, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who would exploit their influence. Preserving it necessitates that the influential have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and conflict.
Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms frays. If these actions are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can descend into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
Today, we live in a global community marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The resources of certain tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans a vast portion of the world. AI is poised to centralize resources and influence even more. The military might of the world's largest nations is without parallel in recorded history.
Supported by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the executive office has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of government in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you see the threat.
An unbroken thread ties earlier breaches of norms to ongoing threats. Each were based on the overconfidence of invincibility.
One observes much the same in international affairs: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.
Yet, raw power does not make right. It produces instability, revolution, and war.
The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to check the influential also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for increased control and resources ultimately cause their collapse – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk international catastrophe.
Such lawlessness will haunt America and the global community – and the very idea of civilization – for a long time.
