Ethics folded to the unaccountable elite – the Epstein Class; trusted institutions buckled under pressure, they proved too weak and highly compromised to protect vulnerable girls and young women across the world in the face of well-coordinated networks of predatory older men. Money, fame, predatory instincts and opportunism powered evil inclinations; morals sunk as ethics fell silent under the weight of wealth, arrogance, and power; systems became impotent and institutions that should have played an ethics oversight role went very loud in their silence.
Despite the human perception that we are the most capable and better reasoning than the rest of species, our behaviour does not often back that view. We perceive our moral standards as higher than other species, but what is the measure? We may be the worst – our propensity for evil is boundless; we are very selfish, greedy, and cruel towards each other and other species, and there is never a survival need for these actions.
Jeffery Epstein was a good and effective connector in a hidden, borderless network of wealthy, powerful and elite people who were more loyal to each other than to places. But he represents the worst of human instincts across international borders. He and his co-conspirators represent the same underworld that inspired, perpetuated and maintained the Catholic Child sex abuses stretching back to the 1950s.
Responsibility for breaking this network down lies with ethical people; good people must unmask the structural complexities that built and maintained spaces where the rich, the famous and the elite established a hidden world in which they felt empowered and confident to subvert societal rules and laws with impunity. In that unethical dark world, many girls and young women suffered rape, shame, and torture spanning decades across the world.
Focus must not be paid only on individuals but to a network that the Epstein Class really is. Epstein may be the most public name, but he is a huge figure that the network was prepared to sacrifice for its protection. The fact remains that there are many redacted names of co-conspirators and facilitators in the Epstein Files that have been made public to the U.S. public to date. The case at hand is clear, no shades of grey, this is an organised international evil network of the unaccountable wealthy elite men, Epstein was never alone in fixing and enabling the abuse of underage girls and young women, and the U.S. was not the only theatre of that evil.
The U.S. has once again proven untrustworthy when it comes to upholding the highest standards when it comes to morals. Justice cannot be achieved in a country where innocence is subject to buying power. The international community must conduct investigations within every jurisdiction and stop relying on the more than compromised U.S. Department of Justice presiding over a highly flawed investigation process.
While making individuals accountability central to justice for the survivors of the abuses, it must be understood that the suffering of survivors of the crimes of the Epstein Class will not be fully addressed through episodic outrage and individualised blame alone. The Epstein case must be viewed as a structural force to be understood for us to inform child protection mechanisms today and in the future.
Are we equal before the law? Do laws really protect ordinary citizens from abuse of power by those in authority? It is getting more difficult to convince vulnerable members of society because all the ordinary citizen sees is the violation of his rights by the powerful, every day. Citizens are still trying to make sense of some outrageous behaviours by authorities entrusted with protecting them.
Latest attempts by the U.S. Attorney General – Pamela Bondi – to distract from the Epstein case by referring to crimes committed by immigrants and pointing at the performance of the DOW Jones, etc., were shameful and represent the disconnection between those in authority and the average citizen.
We are itching to understand a few things about society: why and how those charged with enforcing laws chose to look the other side when it became clear girls and young women were violated by older rich and powerful men. Are the extent laws fit for purpose? How does an old man charged with soliciting sex from a minor receive a sentence that only restricts him to spend nights in prison and be allowed to get back to business by day? How does a convicted paedophile get moved from a low security federal prison to a plush minimum-security women’s prison camp after a 9-hour chat with the deputy Attorney General – a man well-connected to the most powerful man in U.S. politics, the President Trump? Co-conspirators are redacted but details of victims ‘accidentally’ exposed?
Society must own its shame. The concept of the best possible version of society must not be merely an intention; it must be actioned. This is the daily practice of taking full responsibility for our behaviours, and actions. The Epstein Class issue must never be politicised; it is not a partisan issue but a case of good and evil. The wealthy elite and connected must never be allowed to use their purchasing power to undermine social norms and values.
MTHWAKAZI HUB 
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