The Former President's Policies Constitute a Danger to Civilization.
His national and international policies – ranging from the attempted coup five years ago to current incursions and threats – erode both national and global law. The implications are broader.
They endanger the core idea of civilization itself.
The moral purpose of a functioning society is to stop the stronger from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Failing that, we could find ourselves locked in a conflict of all against all where survival of the strongest could survive.
This ideal lies at the center of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the foundation of the postwar international order advocated by the US, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
But, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Preserving it demands that the those in charge have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that society ensure they answer for their actions when they fail.
Unchecked strength does not equal right. It makes for instability, disruption, and hostilities.
Whenever entities that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are weaker, the structure of civilization frays. If such aggression are not contained, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can plunge into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.
Our current reality is a global community grown vastly more unequal. Political and economic power are more concentrated than ever before. This encourages the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of omnipotent.
The resources of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is could centralize economic and political clout to a greater degree. The military might of the major powers is unmatched in recorded history.
Supported by a compliant faction and a pliant high court, the executive office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable entity of the state in recent memory.
Combine these factors and you grasp the looming crisis.
A clear connection links earlier breaches of norms to present-day menaces. These were founded upon the overconfidence of absolute power.
You see a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, raw power does not make right. It fosters instability, upheaval, and armed conflict.
History shows that rules and conventions to check the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources ultimately cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten global conflict.
Such lawlessness will plague America and the global community – and indeed civilization – for the foreseeable future.
