The Former President's Approach Constitute a Threat to Civilization.
The internal and external strategies – from the attempted coup five years ago to latest incursions and threats – weaken both domestic and international jurisprudence. The implications are broader.
These actions threaten the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
A guiding principle of any advanced culture is to stop the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Otherwise, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.
This ideal lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the modern framework of international relations supported by the US, built on multilateralism, democracy, fundamental freedoms, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a fragile construct, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their authority. Upholding it requires that the powerful have enough integrity to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions if they don't.
Absolute power does not equal right. It makes for turmoil, chaos, and hostilities.
Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger target and use those that are not, the fabric of society frays. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.
We now inhabit a international landscape grown vastly more unequal. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than ever before. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they feel omnipotent.
The fortunes of certain billionaires is staggering. The power of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors extends over numerous countries. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate wealth and power to a greater degree. The destructive power of the leading countries is without parallel in the annals of time.
Enabled by complicit legislators and an accommodating supreme court, the presidency has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of the state in history.
Put it all together and you perceive the threat.
A direct line ties earlier breaches of norms to current threats. Each were premised on the arrogance of invincibility.
You see parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, raw power does not create right. It makes for instability, revolution, and war.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to constrain the powerful also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for increased control and resources eventually lead to their downfall – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk world war.
This kind of disregard for rules will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilization – for a long time.
