Yesterday President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense of the United States the 'Department of War'. This move sets a new precedent in the route to violence the Trump Administration has marked. In a context where the eastern armies of China, India and Russia are joining forces to contest global power, the most powerful army in the world is being redirected towards violence both inside the United States as well as outside.
We all know the best remedies for ensuring peace at local -as well as international- levels is to strengthen the foundations for democracy as well as the rule of law. The first allows for the people of a country to have a say in the decisions that affect their everyday lives, and the second guarantees a common foundation and mark of action for everyone everyday's actions, ensuring justice for all and no impunity. Both democracy and the rule of law reinforce each other as the voices of people in charge and opponents help create a common ground for civility in the access to power, and a fair game in its exercise. When opponents' voices stop being listened to, decisions start being imposed and the electoral arena gets rigged, tensions arise. Obviously, the only way to manage these tensions in the absense of negotiations is through repression, and societies so governed are minefields about to explode.
Even more, there's a vicious cycle where the lack of democracy gives rise to authoritarian decisions and laws, perverting justice and giving rise to corruption and unjust laws, that no longer respond to the well being of the people but to the interests of the ruling class. These vicious cycle of injustice and lack of representation inevitably ends in wealth concentration, injustice, impunity and violence; creating societies where the few at the top become the enemy of its citizens, and citizens are aware. When the everyday life of the citizens becomes toxic, so does the common ground for leisure, work and making business, redirecting resources used for the well being of families towards conflict.
The Trump Presidency so misguided has proved to be a failure. The American people are keenly aware of the narcissistic behavior and improvised actions of the billionaire, surrounded by scandals that place him as a sexual predator and a pedophile. Trump response so far has been the use of thugs to intimidate citizens and predate on migrants in a spiral towards entrenchment in power and the use of arms instead of dialog. In that sense, the latter move towards war is a reflection of Trump's failure and moral bankruptcy, and a desperate call to correct the course for the American government. Only voters and consensus can make that happen in ending the authoritarian derivative the United States is currently in, with potential catastrophic consecuences for North America and the rest of the world.
