The Former President's Policies Constitute a Threat to Civilization.
The national and international strategies – from the effort to overturn the election previously to recent incursions and warnings – weaken both national and global jurisprudence. But that’s not all.
They endanger the core idea of a civilized world.
The ethical foundation of a functioning society is to stop the stronger from preying upon and using the weaker. Without this, we would be trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest prevails.
This concept is central of America’s founding documents. It’s also the core of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the United States, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
However, it is a vulnerable principle, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their influence. Preserving it necessitates that the powerful have enough integrity to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.
Absolute power does not equal right. It leads to uncertainty, disruption, and hostilities.
Whenever people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the framework of our shared norms unravels. Should such behavior are not contained, the structure collapses. Without intervention, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a international landscape with deepening divides. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the less fortunate because they act with a sense of above the law.
The fortunes of a handful of tycoons is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is likely to further concentrate wealth and power to a greater degree. The military might of the world's largest nations is without parallel in recorded history.
Empowered by a compliant faction and a sympathetic high court, the presidency has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none entity of government in recent memory.
Consider this confluence and you grasp the threat.
An unbroken thread connects previous lawless actions to ongoing menaces. These were based on the hubris of absolute power.
One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.
Yet, raw power does not create right. It makes for uncertainty, upended order, and war.
History shows that rules and conventions to limit the influential also shield them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for more power and wealth eventually lead to their downfall – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.
This blatant disregard for rules will plague America and the global community – and the very idea of civilization – for the foreseeable future.
