Donald Trump's Policies Constitute a Risk to Civilization.

The internal and external strategies – ranging from the effort to overturn the election in the past to latest actions and warnings – undermine not only domestic and international legal frameworks. However, the issue goes deeper.

These actions threaten the fundamental meaning of a civilized world.

A moral purpose of any advanced culture is to stop the more powerful from harming and taking advantage of the less powerful. Without this, we could find ourselves locked in a state of nature where might makes right prevails.

This concept is embedded of America’s founding documents. This is also the core of the global system established after WWII championed by the United States, which stresses international cooperation, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

Yet, it is a vulnerable construct, often broken by those who would exploit their power. Preserving it demands that the powerful have enough integrity to avoid seeking immediate gains, and that society hold them accountable should they falter.

Absolute power is not right. It makes for turmoil, disruption, and hostilities.

Every time entities that are advantaged attack and exploit those that are not, the framework of our shared norms weakens. If such aggression are not contained, the system fails. If not stopped, the world can plunge into chaos and war. We have seen this pattern previously.

We now inhabit a international landscape with deepening divides. Political and economic power are increasingly centralized than ever before. This invites the privileged to leverage their position against the less fortunate because they feel untouchable.

The fortunes of a small group of tycoons is almost beyond comprehension. The reach of big tech, big oil, and large defense contractors covers numerous countries. Advanced technology is poised to further concentrate economic and political clout to a greater degree. The offensive capability of the leading countries is unmatched in recorded history.

Enabled by a compliant faction and a sympathetic judicial body, the presidency has been turned into the most powerful and unaccountable instrument of government in history.

Consider this confluence and you grasp the danger.

An unbroken thread links previous transgressions to present-day menaces. Each were premised on the overconfidence of omnipotence.

You see much the same in international affairs: in territorial invasions, in strategic threats, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

But, strength without restraint does not establish right. It makes for fragility, revolution, and armed conflict.

History shows that laws and norms to limit the influential also protect them. If these guardrails are removed, their endless appetite for increased control and resources ultimately lead to their downfall – taking down their enterprises, countries, or domains. And pave the way for global conflict.

This blatant lawlessness will haunt America and the global community – and the very idea of civilized conduct – for years to come.