A decade ago, a famous and successful investor told me that “integrity reduces the cost of capital.” We were talking about Donald Trump at the time, and this Wall Street wizard was explaining why then-candidate Trump was having so much trouble borrowing money in the domestic capital markets. His point was that the people who knew Trump best had been screwed, tricked, or deceived by him so many times that they didn't think he was a good credit risk. If you are honest and direct in business, my friend explained, you earn trust and that trust has real value.
I think about that point often. But never more than in recent weeks.
In all debates about foreign policy – where people use terms like realism, internationalism, isolationism, nationalism, this-ism, that-ism – one word tends to catch the attention of ideologues: “honor.” specifically national honor.
President Trump and many of his admirers believe he is “restoring” America's reputation on the world stage. Triumph itself often says that “We have never been more respected.” It's never exactly clear what this is based on, other than what foreign leaders supposedly tell him in private. Public opinion surveys They are, at best, a mixed bag.
The deeper confusion is about what is meant by “respect.” From the way Trump talks about geopolitics, it is clear that he equates “respect” with a Machiavellian mix of “fear,” “strength,” or “power.” That's one definition. For example, many people respect China as an economic and military power. But that respect is not synonymous with “admiration.” Everyone respects North Korea as a nuclear power. But few non-deranged people admire the Hermit Kingdom in any other way.
What is missing is the concept of honor. One of the great criticisms of the idea that the economy is everything, that we are all mere economic homomaximizing income to the exclusion of everything else, is that people value other things: love, family, morality, integrity, faith and, yes, honor. Trump's theory of geopolitics could be described as Economic homeland (although Latin purists might object). It's a kind of realism that simply says that the nation-state should do everything it can to get the best deals for itself (or the rest of the world). economic homo in Chief).
This seems to be what Trump is referring to when says The only thing that can limit him on the international stage is “my own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me.”
His assistant, Stephen Miller, insist that “the real world” is “ruled by force… is governed by force… is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world that have existed since the beginning of time.” By this logic, we can take Greenland from Denmark (and the Greenlanders themselves) because we can. The only question is whether it will be “the easy way” or “the hard way,” as Trump recently said. saying.
We should recognize the truth of this. Leave aside questions of law, Constitution or politics. It is true that we could take Greenland militarily, gangster style. It's also true that I can take a gun and rob my friends. Again, legality aside, the question I have is, “would that be honorable?” In Trump's terms, taking Greenland would make us more “respected,” but it would not make us more honored. We would be betraying our allies (and ideals), and not only Denmark but all of NATO, if we broke our word. So that? Territory. Territory that we have every right to use for treaty already. Would we be more proud of our army once it became an instrument of mercenary conquest?
Saint Augustine once asked“So, with justice taken away, what are kingdoms but great robberies?” George Washington was passionate about notions of honor and virtue. in your farewell speechHe insisted that we must fulfill our commitments “in perfect good faith.”
A United States that honors its commitments has allies who will honor theirs. A United States that betrays its commitments by force or the threat of force will find the cost of political capital exorbitantly high at the first opportunity.
The administration interprets the Monroe Doctrine as a guarantee for the president to do whatever he wants on his territory, and in Trump's view, Greenland is our territory. This is not how President Monroe saw things. in your first inauguration, Monroe declared: “National honor is a national property of the highest value. The sentiment in the mind of every citizen is the national strength. Therefore, it should be cherished.”
Most Americans are right to want their country to be powerful. But they should also want our country to be good. Aristotle believed that true honor is reserved not only for power or glory, but also for virtue. Those who value virtue will find little comfort in Trump's assurance that he is limited only by his own morality.
UNKNOWN: @JonahDispatch
