Trump's Actions Pose a Risk to Our Social Fabric.
His national and international initiatives – from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to recent actions and warnings – weaken both domestic and international jurisprudence. But that’s not all.
They threaten the core idea of civilization itself.
A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Without this, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations championed by the US, built on multilateralism, democracy, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
But, it is a vulnerable construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their influence. Maintaining it demands that the powerful have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that society ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.
Absolute power does not equal right. It makes for turmoil, chaos, and conflict.
Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are advantaged target and use those that are weaker, the framework of society weakens. If these actions are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can fall into instability and violence. It has happened before.
We now inhabit a society and world with deepening divides. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This creates conditions for the elite to exploit the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of above the law.
The fortunes of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers much of the globe. AI is could centralize economic and political clout even more. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unmatched in recorded history.
Empowered by political allies and a pliant judicial body, the executive office has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of state power in history.
Put it all together and you perceive the danger.
A clear connection connects past transgressions to current threats. Both were founded upon the overconfidence of invincibility.
There is parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in wars of aggression, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by massive conglomerates.
However, unfettered might does not create right. It produces uncertainty, upheaval, and armed conflict.
The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to limit the influential also protect them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten world war.
This kind of lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for the foreseeable future.
