Triadic philosophy has nothing against Donald trump, but on the basis of his state of the Union Address, it would be better f he was not our president. The reason is quite simple. We are a nation of laws. No one is above the law. The worst evils are the result of abuses of power.
Last night the president just asked Congress to approve a measure that would essentially put the entire US government above the law. If you think this is left-wing alarmism, stop reading. You will have no capacity to make an independent judgment based on an exact quote from the president's address.
The president said, "Tonight, I call on the Congress to empower every Cabinet secretary with the authority to reward good workers—and to remove federal employees who undermine the public trust or fail the American people."
Power grab
I want this quote to stand alone. It essentially confers on the president, who runs the cabinet, the power to fire anyone he likes. It would disempower Mueller. It would disempower every government worker who would live in fear of being independent of the chief executive.
This is the sort of authority that other democracies turned into dictatorships has approved. Triadic philosophy is obliged to single out this clear, open, public proposal as an expression that strikes at the heart of who we are as a people.
It is not merely a contradiction as many of our public actions have been since our founding. It is a blanket acknowledgment of failure. It is tossing in the towel.
Universal values
Examine the president's statement under the light of the three universal action values of triadic philosophy, Is this statement a reflection of tolerance?
It would seem not. It would seem to authorize the removal of anyone who is different, who displeases, who thinks outside the box.
Helpfulness implies fairness and openness to the needs of all people. Such a value leads to the improvement of morale in any institution where its emphasis on education and enablement is fairly applied.
Trump's edict would create an atmosphere of authoritarianism. It would breed mistrust. It would be the antithesis of help.
Trump just asked Congress to end the rule of law. That should be the headline tomorrow. https://t.co/SjRkq51wnJ via @slate
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) January 31, 2018
Then there is the cardinal value of democracy itself. Democracy does not assume that we cannot vote for whom we please yet serve someone of the opposite party. It regards rights as sacred. That includes every right noted in our Bill of Rights including freedom of speech.
Democracy depends on the Rule Of Law. Trump's edict would end that rule. It would place the president and his Cabinet above the law. We must flag this as outlandish and an absolute evil, like all dictatorship.
