It's Rotten All the Way Down: Epstein, Trump, and the Twilight of the Elites

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When considering the Jeffrey Epstein story, we must do two things at once. First, and this is the easiest because of the disturbing, salacious nature of the crimes, we must allow ourselves to gaze in horror and truly let it wash over us. We cannot let this desensitize us. We cannot, in any way, shape, or form, no matter how much it gets discussed or casually mentioned, allow this to simply become something that happened. In an era of ascendant fascism, we must keep our bearings and protect our ability to be shocked and horrified.

But what gets lost in this story, with all its perversions and abuses, is the story of the United States of America.

At this moment, the President of the United States of America is a fascist con-artist who has show irrepressible hatred toward women, people of color, gay and trans people, immigrants, political enemies, and the poor. And he is undeniably linked to a man who trafficked thousands of underage girls for the purposes of abusing them. For this man to ever reach the zenith of power in this country is an indictment. As we peruse the emails and discuss this terrible story, we must also hold onto this truth.

The revelations from the emails released by the Congressional Oversight Committee are many. Epstein seemed preoccupied with blackmailing Trump, going so far as to advise Russia on how to do so. His links with Israeli intelligence were further highlighted, throwing more fuel onto years’ of speculation. But the takeaway here, perhaps the largest, is how thoroughly and irredeemably America’s institutions have been corrupted.

Epstein’s “friends” are everywhere. They are giants of finance, academic leaders, politicians. There is nary a corner of power within the United States that hasn’t been infected with his evil.

And why?

In answering this question, we have to move away from Epstein for a moment, which can prove difficult. He is a smoking gun, after all, and, like Trump, a symptom of a larger disease. That powerful men engaged in these criminal activities is an absolutely vital revelation, but it does not tell the whole story here. These men knew Epstein and committed these crimes because they were in positions of power and their willingness to do so is inextricably linked to their willingness to carry out the projects power deems necessary. In other words, they were in their positions to engage in these crimes because they were the kind of people who would be willing to commit these crimes and that is what capitalism requires.

It helps to understand that for an individual to reach the highest echelons of wealth and power in this system they must be willing to hurt people. We do not draw lines like this, but to engineer wars that kill millions of innocent people, to protect systems of intentional inequality and intentional scarcity, to ward off necessary reforms that would give people healthcare that could help them live longer lives, to deny them affordable housing, to conspire to create economic systems in which wages are kept below the poverty level, which leaves people endangered, terrified, dysregulated, to press your thumb on the balance in favor of your cohorts in the realm of wealth and power over living, breathing humans, is to prove you do not care about the consequences of your actions.

The Epstein stuff is accoutrements to these monsters.

The Epstein stuff is a perk of the job.

The Epstein stuff is, to put it another way, the marker of reaching a certain level of power.

This act, which is so repulsive to a person with a conscience, is a thrill to those who have so thoroughly shut themselves off to basic empathy or compassion. They do not see you or me or anyone besides members of their circle as human or deserving of dignity. This is how they earn their political and financial gains. In the process of climbing the ladders of power, those essential human characteristics have to be shut off. The normal person would become physically sickened at the prospect of having to carry out any program that would create even a fraction of the pain they oversee within their jobs. And the soulless, immoral system of capitalism requires these actions and this exploitation, which means that predators and abusers are sought out for promotion and exultation.

It isn’t a surprise that a Jeffrey Epstein would come to such prominence and influence in a period like this one. Decades of Neoliberal redistribution and the corruption of our politics and the rigging of our economy, which is what always happens in these types of eras, has created a class of insulated elites whom predictably engage in debauchery. This is also a symptom of an unbalanced system in which the small class of elites wields unfettered and uncontested power, begins to feel untouchable and, with time, degenerates in terms of innovation, competence, and behavior.

That this poison weaved its way through all the arteries of power and influence is expected and, it should be noted, is part of why a culture of conspiracy theories regarding the abuses of the powerful always proliferate in these environments. After all, the elite are alone in those closed rooms. What are they doing in those rooms? What the QAnon conspiracy theory got correct was that elites were engaging in these crimes, but like all Right Wing conspiracy theories, it removed the financial incentives from the acts, creating merely a story of supernatural evil. But this didn’t happen because these criminals are doing it in the service of Evil. They’re doing it as part of their membership in a class status that has learned, correctly, they will not be prosecuted, they will not lose status or wealth, they will not fail, and their successes are directly linked to their willingness, and even eagerness, to hurt innocent people.

Trump and anyone associated with these crimes, whether they’re Democrat or Republican, a scientist or a philanthropist, whoever, should be held accountable and should spend the rest of their natural lives in prison. They need rooted out wherever they are found. But even finding Epstein’s clients and holding them legally accountable will not solve the problem. We must see this as part of a larger, systemic issue. One so large that it’s difficult to fully comprehend or express it.

Epstein gives us an incredibly recognizable symbol of the corruption. Anyone with a conscience knows this is and was wrong. Watching Trump cultists contort themselves with every revelation, including trying to normalize grown men raping young girls, is something we can never forget or turn away from. It is madness. Unadulterated madness. And ignoring that madness means not fully wrestling with how far the disease has spread or how badly it has metastasized. But it does not stop there.

America is sick and has been sick for a very, very long time. The sickness was hidden for so long that a culture of denial took hold and many are refusing to let go of that denial because it is comforting. The crimes and abuses here are noticeable, but they are linked to the types of actions that we have come to expect and normalize. It is a nervous system racked with dysfunction and inhumanity and, with the right set of eyes, you can see it everywhere. In our economy, our culture, our universities, and, of course, the halls of political power. These are not people who deserve our trust or who deserve the power they have seized. They have shown their lack of talent, their lack of judgment, and, most importantly, their lack of basic human decency.

Some day, if we work hard and if we are lucky, we will look back at the Epstein scandal and see it as one of the most glaring symptoms of that larger disease. We won’t simply expect our culture to punish the poor or attack the most vulnerable. We’ll see it as simply common, decent sense to protect the young and treat others with respect and care. We’ll see the diseased connections between Epstein and Trump and all the others, whether through these child abusing rings or simply through the associations of dehumanizing power, as rotten artifacts of a way of life that should have never been allowed to take shape or root.