The Former President's Actions Constitute a Threat to Our Social Fabric.
The national and international strategies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process in the past to current actions and statements – erode not only domestic and international jurisprudence. But that’s not all.
These actions endanger the very concept of civilization itself.
The ethical foundation of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Otherwise, we risk being locked in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This principle is embedded of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the postwar international order championed by the America, emphasizing international cooperation, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the supremacy of law.
However, it is a fragile construct, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their authority. Maintaining it requires that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us demand responsibility if they don't.
Unchecked strength is not right. It makes for instability, chaos, and conflict.
Whenever individuals, companies, or nations that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are less so, the structure of society frays. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. If not stopped, the world can descend into instability and violence. History provides ample precedent.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This encourages the privileged to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they act with a sense of above the law.
The fortunes of a small group of tycoons is staggering. The influence of global industrial giants extends over much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is poised to further concentrate economic and political clout further. The offensive capability of the major powers is unprecedented in the annals of time.
Empowered by political allies and an accommodating high court, the presidency has been made into the most dominant and unchecked instrument of state power in the modern era.
Combine these factors and you grasp the threat.
An unbroken thread ties earlier transgressions to ongoing provocations. Each were based on the overconfidence of invincibility.
You see parallel dynamics in international affairs: in territorial invasions, in expansive ambitions, and in the rampant monopolization by massive conglomerates.
Yet, raw power does not make right. It produces uncertainty, upended order, and war.
Historical evidence demonstrates that laws and norms to constrain the influential also safeguard them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for greater influence and riches in time bring them down – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk global conflict.
This blatant disregard for rules will plague international stability – and indeed a rules-based order – for a long time.
