The Former President's Policies Present a Danger to Civilization.
The national and international initiatives – ranging from the attempted coup five years ago to recent actions and statements – erode not only national and global legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.
They jeopardize the very concept of a civilized world.
The guiding principle of civilized society is to stop the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Otherwise, we could find ourselves trapped in a conflict of all against all where might makes right prevails.
This concept lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. This is also the heart of the global system established after WWII championed by the America, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
However, it is a vulnerable principle, often broken by those who seek to abuse their influence. Upholding it requires that the powerful have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and conflict.
Whenever people or corporations or countries that are advantaged prey upon those that are not, the structure of civilization unravels. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a international landscape with deepening divides. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This encourages the privileged to leverage their position against the weaker because they perceive themselves as omnipotent.
The wealth of certain tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The power of global industrial giants covers much of the globe. Advanced technology is could consolidate resources and influence further. The military might of the leading countries is unmatched in the annals of time.
Empowered by political allies and a sympathetic supreme court, the executive office has been transformed into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in history.
Consider this confluence and you grasp the looming crisis.
A direct line ties past breaches of norms to ongoing threats. These were premised on the hubris of omnipotence.
One observes much the same in international affairs: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.
However, strength without restraint does not make right. It makes for instability, upended order, and bloodshed.
History shows that frameworks designed to limit the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for greater influence and riches in time bring them down – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten international catastrophe.
This blatant disregard for rules will haunt international stability – and indeed civilized conduct – for years to come.
