The Former President's Actions Present a Danger to Civilized Society.
His national and international strategies – from the effort to overturn the election in the past to latest actions and warnings – undermine not only domestic and international law. But that’s not all.
They threaten the core idea of what we mean by.
A moral purpose of any advanced culture is to prevent the dominant from preying upon and using the weaker. Otherwise, we risk being locked in a brutish war where might makes right could survive.
This ideal is central of the nation's founding texts. It is equally the core of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the America, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, individual liberties, and the rule of law.
But, it is a delicate construct, frequently ignored by those who choose to misuse their authority. Upholding it necessitates that the influential have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the rest of us demand responsibility when they fail.
Unfettered might is not right. It leads to instability, disruption, and war.
Each instance entities that are wealthier and stronger attack and exploit those that are less so, the structure of our shared norms unravels. Should such behavior are left unchecked, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can plunge into disorder and conflict. History provides ample precedent.
We now inhabit a society and world grown vastly more unequal. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in modern history. This invites the powerful to exploit the less fortunate because they perceive themselves as untouchable.
The wealth of certain ultra-wealthy individuals is staggering. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over much of the globe. Artificial intelligence is could consolidate resources and influence further. The military might of the world's largest nations is unmatched in human history.
Empowered by complicit legislators and an accommodating supreme court, the highest office has been made into the most dominant and unchecked agent of the state in recent memory.
Put it all together and you grasp the looming crisis.
A direct line ties earlier lawless actions to current menaces. Each were premised on the overconfidence of invincibility.
There is a similar pattern in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the rampant monopolization by powerful corporate entities.
Yet, strength without restraint does not create right. It makes for uncertainty, upheaval, and bloodshed.
The lessons of the past reveal that rules and conventions to limit the powerful also safeguard them. Without such constraints, their relentless pursuit for more power and wealth in time cause their collapse – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for world war.
Such lawlessness will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for a long time.
