Homage

Have the Epstein revelations blighted more than was strictly necessary?

When disease strikes a certain branch of animal husbandry, farmers in the affected area will have to cull much of, most of, or even all of their oxen, ostriches, chickens or whatever species was affected.

But the species as such is not exterminated.

Now that we have had a peek at a sufficiently large number of redacted files to have reason to suspect that a substantial segment of our western elites is rotten to the core, we could be tempted to revert to nihilism. But all we really have learnt is something we ought to have always known: Power corrupts; power perverts minds that might otherwise have contributed to the common good.

They understood this as far back as in 1215, when the Plantagenet King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta.

What is also known is that power is a magnet, as is wealth. Epstein used, or was used as – as we have reason to believe – a magnet. His wealth was breathtaking. As a result, his connections among the powerful were infinite, and people were drawn to him not because of his intelligence, as they might themselves have imagined, but because he seemed fabulous. Moreover, he was “generous” with money and, not least, with girls. And he stored – hoarded – compromising evidence about his “friends”.

You and I did not walk into his net. Why was that? It may have been because we are ethically superior to those who did. Or it may be that we were not invited.

One of my heroes, Noam Chomsky, did walk into his net. Does that diminish Chomsky’s contributions to mankind? Certainly not. It only reminds me of the phrase “sic transit gloria mundi”. We are not infallible.

Am I excusing the politicians and diplomats whom Epstein may have persuaded to pass on classified information or perform other services to a foreign power, unbeknownst to the populations of their own countries? Definitely not. My view is that such acts are not only expressions of human weakness but acts of treason!

The four Epstein “friends” under investigation in Norway are so far only charged with corruption or aggravated corruption. Details of the charges and the ongoing criminal investigation will naturally (and rightly) be withheld from the general public for the time being.

I believe the word “treason” is particularly germane to the case of the USA, where nobody has been charged (apart from G. Maxwell) much less indicted, for letting himself or herself be trapped in Epstein’s net. It’s as though the entire judiciary, law enforcement and Congress itself is paralysed.

Moreover, the USA is conspicuously acting against its own interests on behalf of Israel. From a distance and without inside knowledge I must be excused for thinking that the entire nation appears to be handcuffed (or, to be more precise: blackmailed).

Epstein’s remit was networking. He had his own network, but he also joined others, such as the Trilateral Commission. He was very much a buddy of the Norwegian CEO of the World Economic Forum, the purpose of which is, according to Wikipedia, to Influence global agendas and decision making, no less. Judging from this exchange (you will be asked to confirm you are not a robot and that you are over 18) between the two, would you say that Epstein had an agenda when he nurtured friendship with the WEFs CEO? Or this message to Peter Thiel? What about this one?

Another matter is the very nature of arenas such as the World Economic Forum, the Bilderberg Group, and the Trilateral Commission. The latter two apply the Chatham House Rule, i.e. secrecy rules. And of course there is the Munich Security Conference, now ongoing, which does publish speeches, but what about all the tête a têtes on the side of the conference?

To what extent do so-called Democratic processes control these immensely powerful people and their networks. Compare the Mont Pelerin society, a forerunner which planned and plotted the demise of Keynesianism and eventually celebrated the triumph of a system which would favour the 1%, often referred to as economic “neoliberalism” or “globalism”.

The Mont Pelerin Society claims to promote a free market, but what it promotes is anything but. For Adam Smith, a “free market” was:

an economy free of land rent, usurious banking practices and monopolies in private hands. But as finance capitalism has superseded industrial capitalism, it has inverted “free market” rhetoric to mean a market free for rent extractors to obtain land rent, natural resource rent, monopoly rent and financial gains “free” of government taxation or regulation.
( Source: Michael Hudson: J is for Junk Economics, 2017)

Ugh. The US wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and now Iran are also ugly. If US support for the genocide in Palestine is venal, European support for it is downright nightmarish: By what means have “liberal”, allegedly anti-racist EU and UK politicians been bulldozed into supporting something that is vastly antithetical to European so-called “values”? Is Epstein’s ghost whispering to them at night. Or Epstein’s handlers? What lurid secrets remain unseen in Epstein’s redacted or withheld files?

Or are EU’s leading politicians innately depraved?

But even Europe and the U SA have brave and dignified citizens. Far, far more of them, than the despicable lot who have – as I see it – betrayed their countries.

If you have been wondering why the title to this post is “Homage” rather than, for instance, “Treason”, allow me to mention one such brave and dignified citizen. Professor Jeffrey Sachs may be said to belong to the elite, in the sense that he has had one-to-one conversations with many of the world’s most powerful men over the past 40 years or so. But he has definitely not been a tool of the 1%, on the contrary. Moreover he is endlessly generous with his time when trying to elucidate for us – including those of us who are not rich or powerful – why the world is on such a dangerous course and what can be done to correct that course.

Since state and corporate press and social media are determined to discombobulate us, and to prevent us from understanding what is going on and why, he has sought to explain concepts such as “exceptionalism” as opposed to “multi-polar” and “regime change operations”.

It you are uncertain about what has been going on in Venezuela, for instance, I urge you to hear what Jeffrey Sachs has to say about the matter. He also touches upon Iran and explains why US policies with regard to these two states are not even good for US interests: U.S. Economic Coercion & the Death of the Dollar.