The Former President's Policies Present a Risk to Our Social Fabric.
The national and international policies – from the challenge to the democratic process previously to latest actions and statements – weaken not only national and global legal frameworks. The implications are broader.
They jeopardize the fundamental meaning of what we mean by.
The ethical foundation of civilized society is to prevent the dominant from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Without this, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This ideal lies at the center of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the modern framework of international relations supported by the United States, emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
However, it is a fragile principle, often broken by those who would exploit their authority. Preserving it requires that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that the rest of us hold them accountable if they don't.
Absolute power is not right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and war.
Whenever entities that are richer and more powerful target and use those that are weaker, the framework of society unravels. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can fall into chaos and war. It has happened before.
Our current reality is a society and world with deepening divides. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in modern history. This invites the elite to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they perceive themselves as above the law.
The resources of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is almost beyond comprehension. The influence of global industrial giants extends over much of the globe. Advanced technology is likely to consolidate wealth and power to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unprecedented in recorded history.
Supported by a compliant faction and a sympathetic supreme court, the executive office has been transformed into the most powerful and unaccountable agent of state power in recent memory.
Put it all together and you grasp the threat.
A clear connection connects previous breaches of norms to ongoing provocations. Both were founded upon the hubris of absolute power.
One observes a similar pattern in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in expansive ambitions, and in the global depredation by massive conglomerates.
But, raw power does not establish right. It makes for instability, upheaval, and war.
The lessons of the past reveal that laws and norms to check the influential also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for increased control and resources eventually bring them down – along with their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk world war.
Such contempt for legal order will plague America and the global community – and indeed civilized conduct – for a long time.
