The Epstein Files

[robbo203]

There seems to be an extraordinary amount of stuff being published on the internet in the last day or two since the release of more Epstein files. Of course, it goes without saying that what this guy did was utterly reprehensible, and the elitist arrogance of the establishment figures implicated in this whole sordid business is breathtaking.

All the same, it is a bit concerning that all this focus on individuals and their moral defects can be quite distracting. It is all of a piece with the kind of argument that the main problem that workers in America face is Trump, and so we must unite to get rid of Trump. Never mind capitalism.

I have noticed a tendency among many on the Left, for example, to see the Epstein affair almost as a godsend, a beating stock to be used against their right-wing opponents. It tells you something about the state of the left today.

Caitlin Johnstone makes some interesting comments, though:

The power structure which birthed the Epstein abuses is not going to do anything about the Epstein abuses. The only thing that might possibly change is that some people may become radicalized against that power structure.

Please Understand That Nothing Will Be Done About The Epstein Files

[Roberto]

What the Epstein revelations really expose is not simply the depravity of particular individuals, but the nature of the social system that protects and reproduces such behaviour. Moral outrage is understandable, even necessary, but when the focus remains fixed on individual villains it easily becomes a diversion. Capitalism then slips quietly into the background, untouched and unquestioned.
This mirrors the familiar pattern in politics: reduce systemic problems to bad leaders, corrupt personalities, or pathological individuals. Remove Trump, jail Epstein, shame a few elites—and we are told the problem is solved. But the conditions that generate exploitation, abuse of power, secrecy, and impunity remain intact. The power structure that enabled Epstein is not an aberration; it is a product of a class system where wealth and influence buy protection.
The Left’s tendency to weaponize the scandal against right-wing opponents also says a lot. It turns a symptom into a partisan tool, rather than a starting point for questioning the wage system, class power, and the state machinery that serves ruling-class interests regardless of which faction is in office.
If there is any emancipatory potential here, it lies not in moral crusades but in radicalizing people against the system itself—understanding that exploitation and abuse are not moral accidents but structural features. Without that shift, outrage will be absorbed, managed, and forgotten, while workers’ lives continue to be shaped by the same economic realities as before.

[Author]

Posts