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His national and international strategies – including the challenge to the democratic process five years ago to current actions and warnings – erode both domestic and international law. However, the issue goes deeper.

They endanger the fundamental meaning of civilization itself.

The ethical foundation of civilized society is to stop the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the weaker. Otherwise, we risk being locked in a conflict of all against all where only the fittest prevails.

This ideal is central of the Declaration and Constitution. It’s also the foundation of the modern framework of international relations supported by the US, which stresses international cooperation, democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.

However, it is a delicate ideal, easily violated by those who seek to abuse their influence. Upholding it necessitates that the those in charge have the moral fortitude to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that society demand responsibility when they fail.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It makes for uncertainty, disruption, and war.

Every time people or corporations or countries that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are weaker, the framework of civilization frays. If these actions are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Without intervention, the world can plunge into instability and violence. It has happened before.

Our current reality is a international landscape marked by extreme inequality. Authority and resources are increasingly centralized than in recent memory. This encourages the elite to take advantage of the disadvantaged because they act with a sense of omnipotent.

The fortunes of a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals is difficult to fathom. The power of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers much of the globe. Advanced technology is could centralize economic and political clout further. The military might of the major powers is unprecedented in recorded history.

Enabled by complicit legislators and an accommodating judicial body, the presidency has been transformed into the supreme and answerable-to-none agent of government in the modern era.

Put it all together and you see the danger.

A direct line ties earlier transgressions to present-day menaces. Each were based on the arrogance of invincibility.

You see parallel dynamics in other global contexts: in territorial invasions, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

But, raw power does not establish right. It produces uncertainty, revolution, and war.

Historical evidence demonstrates that frameworks designed to constrain the powerful also shield them. If these guardrails are removed, their relentless pursuit for greater influence and riches in time cause their collapse – taking down their corporations, nations, or empires. And threaten international catastrophe.

This blatant lawlessness will plague the nation and the world – and indeed a rules-based order – for years to come.