Trump's Policies Constitute a Danger to Civilized Society.
His national and international strategies – including the challenge to the democratic process in the past to latest moves and threats – undermine both domestic and international legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of what we mean by.
The ethical foundation of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the vulnerable. Without this, we would be trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.
This concept lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the foundation of the postwar international order championed by the US, which stresses international cooperation, democracy, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
But, it is a fragile principle, often broken by those who would exploit their power. Maintaining it necessitates that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the public demand responsibility should they falter.
Unfettered might does not make right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and conflict.
Each instance people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are not, the framework of society unravels. If these actions are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can descend into chaos and war. History provides ample precedent.
We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in modern history. This invites the elite to exploit the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.
The wealth of certain billionaires is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants covers numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate wealth and power even more. The military might of the major powers is unprecedented in recorded history.
Supported by a compliant faction and a pliant judicial body, the highest office has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of government in recent memory.
Put it all together and you perceive the threat.
An unbroken thread ties past lawless actions to current menaces. These were founded upon the arrogance of invincibility.
You see parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, unfettered might does not make right. It fosters instability, revolution, and war.
History shows that rules and conventions to constrain the influential also shield them. Without such constraints, their endless appetite for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – along with their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for international catastrophe.
This kind of disregard for rules will plague international stability – and indeed a rules-based order – for a long time.