The Former President's Approach Present a Danger to Civilization.
The internal and external policies – ranging from the attempted coup in the past to recent moves and warnings – weaken both domestic and international legal frameworks. But that’s not all.
These actions endanger the very concept of what we mean by.
The moral purpose of a functioning society is to forestall the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the vulnerable. Failing that, we would be trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest could survive.
This concept lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the global system established after WWII advocated by the America, emphasizing collective action, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a vulnerable principle, easily violated by those who would exploit their influence. Upholding it necessitates that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that society ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Absolute power is not right. It leads to uncertainty, chaos, and hostilities.
Every time people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are weaker, the structure of society weakens. If these actions are left unchecked, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.
Today, we live in a global community grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in recent memory. This encourages the powerful to exploit the weaker because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The resources of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers a vast portion of the world. AI is could further concentrate resources and influence even more. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is without parallel in human history.
Enabled by complicit legislators and a pliant judicial body, the executive office has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none instrument of state power in recent memory.
Put it all together and you see the looming crisis.
A clear connection links past lawless actions to present-day menaces. These were premised on the hubris of omnipotence.
There is a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the worldwide exploitation by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, raw power does not establish right. It fosters fragility, revolution, and bloodshed.
The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also shield them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches ultimately bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for international catastrophe.
This kind of disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over international stability – and indeed civilization – for the foreseeable future.
