The Former President's Approach Pose a Threat to Civilization.
The internal and external initiatives – including the effort to overturn the election five years ago to current moves and statements – weaken both national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.
These actions jeopardize the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.
The guiding principle of any advanced culture is to stop the more powerful from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Without this, we risk being trapped in a state of nature where might makes right could survive.
This concept lies at the center of America’s founding documents. It is equally the core of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the America, emphasizing multilateralism, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
But, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who choose to misuse their authority. Preserving it requires that the influential have the moral fortitude to avoid seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Unfettered might is not right. It leads to turmoil, upheaval, and hostilities.
Each instance individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful attack and exploit those that are weaker, the structure of civilization frays. If these actions are not contained, the structure collapses. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.
Our current reality is a global community marked by extreme inequality. Influence and wealth are held by fewer hands than in modern history. This encourages the powerful to take advantage of the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The fortunes of a handful of tycoons is difficult to fathom. The influence of global industrial giants extends over numerous countries. AI is poised to further concentrate resources and influence even more. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.
Empowered by a compliant faction and an accommodating supreme court, the highest office has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of the state in the modern era.
Consider this confluence and you see the threat.
An unbroken thread ties past breaches of norms to current provocations. These were founded upon the hubris of invincibility.
You see much the same in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.
However, unfettered might does not create right. It makes for fragility, upheaval, and war.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources in time cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.
Such lawlessness will haunt the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for a long time.
