The Former President's Policies Present a Danger to Civilization.
The domestic and foreign policies – including the challenge to the democratic process in the past to recent actions and threats – weaken not only national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions jeopardize the very concept of a civilized world.
A moral purpose of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Without this, we risk being trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.
This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the global system established after WWII supported by the America, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.
Yet, it is a fragile construct, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their influence. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us hold them accountable should they falter.
Unchecked strength is not right. It results in turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.
Each instance entities that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are not, the framework of society weakens. If such aggression are left unchecked, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into instability and violence. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This creates conditions for the privileged to exploit the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of 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. Artificial intelligence is poised to further concentrate resources and influence even more. The destructive power of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.
Enabled by a compliant faction and an accommodating high court, the presidency has been made into the most dominant and unchecked entity of government in the modern era.
Put it all together and you see the threat.
A direct line links earlier breaches of norms to ongoing threats. Both were premised on the hubris of absolute power.
You see much the same in international affairs: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by industrial titans.
However, unfettered might does not establish right. It produces fragility, revolution, and armed conflict.
The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the influential also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth eventually bring them down – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And risk global conflict.
This blatant lawlessness will plague the nation and the world – and indeed civilization – for a long time.
