Donald Trump's Approach Constitute a Danger to Our Social Fabric.

The domestic and foreign strategies – from the attempted coup in the past to current incursions and threats – undermine both domestic and international law. The implications are broader.

They threaten the core idea of civilization itself.

The ethical foundation of a functioning society is to prevent the stronger from harming and taking advantage of the vulnerable. Without this, we could find ourselves permanently immersed in a brutish war where might makes right prevails.

This concept is central of America’s founding documents. It is equally the foundation of the modern framework of international relations advocated by the US, built on international cooperation, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

Yet, it is a delicate construct, easily violated by those who would exploit their power. Maintaining it demands that the influential have enough integrity to abstain from seeking temporary advantages, and that society hold them accountable when they fail.

Unchecked strength does not equal right. It leads to instability, upheaval, and conflict.

Every time individuals, companies, or nations that are wealthier and stronger prey upon those that are weaker, the fabric of our shared norms weakens. Should such behavior are allowed to continue, the fabric unravels. Allowing it to persist, the world can descend into chaos and war. It has happened before.

We now inhabit a global community with deepening divides. Authority and resources are more concentrated than in recent memory. This encourages the elite to exploit the disadvantaged because they feel omnipotent.

The wealth of certain tycoons is staggering. The reach of major corporations in technology, energy, and aerospace covers a vast portion of the world. Artificial intelligence is could further concentrate wealth and power even more. The destructive power of the major powers is without parallel in recorded history.

Supported by a compliant faction and an accommodating judicial body, the executive office has been made into the supreme and answerable-to-none agent of the state in recent memory.

Put it all together and you grasp the threat.

A direct line links previous transgressions to present-day menaces. Each were premised on the arrogance of invincibility.

One observes parallel dynamics in the actions of other powers: in wars of aggression, in coercive diplomacy, and in the global depredation by industrial titans.

But, unfettered might does not make right. It makes for fragility, upheaval, and bloodshed.

History shows that laws and norms to limit the powerful also safeguard them. Absent these limits, their endless appetite for more power and wealth in time lead to their downfall – and with them their corporations, nations, or empires. And pave the way for international catastrophe.

This blatant disregard for rules will cast a long shadow over America and the global community – and the very idea of civilization – for years to come.