Trump's Policies Present a Risk to Our Social Fabric.
His national and international strategies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to current moves and warnings – undermine both domestic and international jurisprudence. But that’s not all.
These actions jeopardize the very concept of a civilized world.
A ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to forestall the dominant from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a brutish war where might makes right wins.
This concept is embedded of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the postwar international order championed by the United States, which stresses international cooperation, democratic governance, human rights, and the rule of law.
However, it is a vulnerable ideal, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their power. Maintaining it requires that the those in charge have enough integrity to refrain from seeking immediate gains, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Unfettered might does not make right. It leads to instability, disruption, and war.
Every time entities that are advantaged target and use those that are less so, the structure of civilization unravels. If such aggression are not contained, the structure collapses. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. It has happened before.
Today, we live in a society and world marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are more concentrated than ever before. This creates conditions for the elite to take advantage of the less fortunate because they feel above the law.
The resources of a small group of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The power of global industrial giants extends over numerous countries. AI is poised to consolidate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The destructive power of the major powers is unmatched in the annals of time.
Enabled by a compliant faction and a pliant high court, the highest office has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked instrument of government in history.
Combine these factors and you grasp the danger.
An unbroken thread connects previous lawless actions to ongoing provocations. Both were premised on the hubris of invincibility.
There is parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, strength without restraint does not make right. It makes for fragility, upheaval, and war.
The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches ultimately lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for world war.
This kind of disregard for rules will haunt international stability – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.