The Former President's Approach Present a Risk to Civilized Society.
His internal and external policies – from the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to recent actions and warnings – weaken both national and global law. The implications are broader.
They endanger the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.
The moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the less powerful. Failing that, we would be trapped in a state of nature where only the fittest wins.
This principle is central of the nation's founding texts. It’s also the core of the postwar international order championed by the United States, built on multilateralism, democracy, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
However, it is a vulnerable ideal, frequently ignored by those who seek to abuse their power. Maintaining it demands that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to refrain from seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility should they falter.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It results in instability, chaos, and conflict.
Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the structure of our shared norms frays. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. It has happened before.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This creates conditions for the privileged to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they feel omnipotent.
The fortunes of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants extends over a vast portion of the world. Advanced technology is likely to centralize economic and political clout to a greater degree. The destructive power of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.
Empowered by complicit legislators and a pliant judicial body, the presidency has been made into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of the state in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you perceive the threat.
A clear connection ties previous transgressions to current provocations. These were premised on the hubris of absolute power.
One observes parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, unfettered might does not establish right. It produces instability, upended order, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to constrain the influential also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches ultimately bring them down – and with them their enterprises, countries, or domains. And threaten global conflict.
This blatant contempt for legal order will haunt America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.
