Trump's Policies Constitute a Risk to Civilized Society.
His domestic and foreign policies – from the challenge to the democratic process previously to latest actions and statements – undermine not only national and global jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions jeopardize the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
The moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the more powerful from preying upon and using the less powerful. Failing that, we could find ourselves locked in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest prevails.
This principle is embedded of the nation's founding texts. This is also the heart of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, emphasizing international cooperation, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a delicate principle, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their power. Upholding it demands that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that society hold them accountable should they falter.
Unfettered might does not make right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and conflict.
Whenever people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are not, the fabric of society weakens. If these actions are left unchecked, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.
Our current reality is a global community with deepening divides. Political and economic power are more concentrated than ever before. This encourages the powerful to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The fortunes of a small group of tycoons is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers numerous countries. AI is likely to further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The destructive power of the major powers is unprecedented in recorded history.
Empowered by a compliant faction and a sympathetic supreme court, the executive office has been turned into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of state power in recent memory.
Consider this confluence and you see the danger.
An unbroken thread connects past transgressions to ongoing menaces. Both were premised on the arrogance of omnipotence.
One observes much the same in international affairs: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.
But, unfettered might does not create right. It fosters instability, revolution, and war.
History shows that laws and norms to limit the influential also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches eventually lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten world war.
This kind of disregard for rules will plague international stability – and indeed civilization – for the foreseeable future.
