The Former President's Policies Constitute a Threat to Our Social Fabric.
The national and international policies – ranging from the attempted coup in the past to recent actions and threats – weaken both national and global legal frameworks. But that’s not all.
They endanger the core idea of a civilized world.
The guiding principle of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the weaker. Failing that, we risk being trapped in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest could survive.
This concept is embedded of the Declaration and Constitution. It is equally the heart of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the America, emphasizing collective action, popular sovereignty, fundamental freedoms, and the legal authority.
However, it is a delicate construct, frequently ignored by those who would exploit their power. Maintaining it requires that the those in charge have a sense of duty to refrain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us ensure they answer for their actions should they falter.
Unchecked strength does not make right. It makes for turmoil, chaos, and hostilities.
Each instance people or corporations or countries that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are not, the structure of our shared norms weakens. If these actions are left unchecked, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. We have seen this pattern previously.
Our current reality is a society and world grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are held by fewer hands than in recent memory. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of untouchable.
The fortunes of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace spans numerous countries. Advanced technology is could consolidate resources and influence even more. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unmatched in the annals of time.
Empowered by complicit legislators and a sympathetic supreme court, the highest office has been turned into the most dominant and unchecked entity of state power in the modern era.
Put it all together and you see the threat.
An unbroken thread links previous lawless actions to ongoing threats. Each were founded upon the hubris of invincibility.
There is much the same in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.
However, raw power does not create right. It fosters fragility, upended order, and armed conflict.
History shows that laws and norms to check the powerful also protect them. Without such constraints, their insatiable demands for more power and wealth eventually cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten world war.
This blatant lawlessness will haunt international stability – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for years to come.
