The Former President's Policies Constitute a Danger to Civilized Society.
His national and international policies – ranging from the challenge to the democratic process in the past to latest actions and threats – erode not only domestic and international jurisprudence. However, the issue goes deeper.
These actions endanger the fundamental meaning of what we mean by.
A guiding principle of civilized society is to stop the stronger from preying upon and using the less powerful. Otherwise, we risk being trapped in a state of nature where might makes right wins.
This ideal lies at the center of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the core of the postwar international order advocated by the United States, emphasizing multilateralism, popular sovereignty, individual liberties, and the legal authority.
But, it is a delicate ideal, often broken by those who would exploit their power. Preserving it necessitates that the powerful have a sense of duty to avoid seeking short-term wins, and that the public demand responsibility when they fail.
Unfettered might does not equal right. It leads to instability, chaos, and conflict.
Whenever entities that are richer and more powerful prey upon those that are less so, the fabric of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are left unchecked, the system fails. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into disorder and conflict. It has happened before.
Today, we live in a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Political and economic power are more concentrated than in recent memory. This invites the powerful to take advantage of the weaker because they act with a sense of above the law.
The wealth of certain tycoons is difficult to fathom. The influence of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace extends over much of the globe. Advanced technology is likely to centralize wealth and power even more. The destructive power of the world's largest nations is unprecedented in recorded history.
Enabled by political allies and an accommodating judicial body, the presidency has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none agent of the state in history.
Put it all together and you grasp the threat.
A clear connection ties past transgressions to present-day provocations. Both were premised on the hubris of absolute power.
There is a similar pattern in other global contexts: in military conflicts, in strategic threats, and in the worldwide exploitation by industrial titans.
Yet, unfettered might does not establish right. It makes for uncertainty, upheaval, and bloodshed.
Historical evidence demonstrates that rules and conventions to limit the influential also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their insatiable demands for increased control and resources in time cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And risk international catastrophe.
Such disregard for rules will plague the nation and the world – and the very idea of a rules-based order – for a long time.
