The Former President's Actions Pose a Risk to Civilized Society.
The national and international strategies – from the challenge to the democratic process previously to recent incursions and threats – erode not only domestic and international law. But that’s not all.
These actions threaten the very concept of a civilized world.
A ethical foundation of a functioning society is to stop the more powerful from preying upon and using the less powerful. Without this, we risk being permanently immersed in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest prevails.
This principle is central of America’s founding documents. This is also the foundation of the modern framework of international relations supported by the US, which stresses multilateralism, democratic governance, human rights, and the legal authority.
However, it is a delicate construct, often broken by those who would exploit their influence. Upholding it demands that the those in charge have a sense of duty to abstain from seeking immediate gains, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.
Unchecked strength is not right. It results in instability, chaos, and war.
Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are weaker, the structure of society weakens. Should such behavior are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in modern history. This invites the elite to exploit the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The resources of certain tycoons is difficult to fathom. The influence of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors spans numerous countries. Advanced technology is could centralize wealth and power even more. The offensive capability of the major powers is unmatched in human history.
Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the highest office has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of state power in the modern era.
Consider this confluence and you grasp the looming crisis.
A clear connection connects previous transgressions to current menaces. Each were founded upon the arrogance of absolute power.
One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.
Yet, raw power does not make right. It makes for uncertainty, upended order, and armed conflict.
The lessons of the past reveal that frameworks designed to check the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources eventually bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for global conflict.
This blatant disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for a long time.
