In the first chapter of our Epstein Class series, we dig into the elite culture that enabled so much abuse: obsessive network maintenance, "optionality" chasing, and the evaporation of courage
I'm thinking back to earlier this year when your numerous speaking engagements were discontinued. As difficult as that must have been, after reading this, I'm so happy for you that you don't have to live and succeed only via powerful networks of corruption. It's as if these people willingly enslave themselves. What a way to live.
Anand, will you in a later installment cover the network of Epstein associates who are aligned by their common staunch support for Israel. This network cuts across the concentric circles surrounding Epstein from left to right and through the center. Arguably, this common bond made it easier for those sharing it to ignore issues of character and morality. This is a fraught and sensitive topic, but one we ignore at our peril. There is no true understanding of Epstein unless it is explored.
Anand, this is so great making so clear how the 'evaporation of courage' happens.
I was born in france in 1946, and my dad, was, once, a well known economist who became governor of the Bank of France, a nationalized institution. His name was Wilfrid Baumgartner. But he was of an incredible honesty. He used to say, you have to be aware all the time, and you have to speak the truth, it is only difficult just the first time before you say it, and then everything is easy, because you cannot go back. The reward of courage is just that, it is more courage. And he was so right.
Nothing like courage makes you happy, apart from kindness.
Anand, this is brilliant and incisive. I was an HBR editor when Ito was at MIT, and know several people who wound up in Epstein’s orbit. Your description of how the network operates is perfect. A lot of people who were once so proudly connected to him are now running for cover now.
Very enlightening and your personal example helps paint a picture of how slippery this can be for people who sell their soul to be included in these networks - all for connection, power, $ and influence. Yet, I doubt that, in the end, it is worth it - you have to sit with yourself at the end of the day and take account of how you have lived your life. You showed Integrity in standing up and voicing your concern - how ironic that it was as a participant on a panel/board designed to explore speaking truth to power! You can breathe more easily than some of the others who chose differently.
I have always been, for better or for worse, a person with an extremely strong moral compass. As a result, I have found myself swinging alone in the breeze more times than I can count. It can be a very lonely place to be. But if there is any chance for us to turn things around towards a more positive future, we will need many more people who are willing to stand up even at perhaps great personal cost. So far, I am not seeing nearly as much of this kind of bravery and steadfastness as we need.
Recently, I have been asked to pretend I don't know...and if asked, to say I don't know, even though I do know. I am incensed and cannot lie or even think of lying and hiding the truth. Such a very sad culture of corruption and of instilling fear. We must not acquiesce. Like my mother who was in the french resistance during WWII, we must resist. We must develop circles of resistance. Thank you Anand.
My goodness. This is the BEST journalism. Ethical and a moral outrage about those who are complicit, protect each other, and the “value” of the network at any cost.
After reading this, I forwarded it to my college-age kids. Here is what I wrote them:
Hi Family,
This is incredibly well-written and incredibly disturbing, but not shocking.I hope you can take the time to read it all.
You would think that 'networking' is an unalloyed good, or at least not evil, but Anand shows how it can be banally evil. Kant (and Buber) would root the problem in using people as means-to-an-end, not ends-in-themselves, as things ('its') instead of as, well, people.
I feel you have been brought up to know consciously, and even viscerally before your mind notes it, when this is going on. It is a creepy feeling, and you try to extricate yourself from the situation. If you do see something, I know you will want to say something, and I know you have the courage to do it. But the cost, as Anand shows, can be very high.
I know Anand will write another piece about Courage. And I hope he will also write a piece about the positive networking, though it will always overlap with the evil networks for they masquerade and invade the positive ones.
Last night we had a Progressive Dinner Party. I watched as people made new friends and connections. All good, right?
I will go to my high school 40th reunion. I expect it to be much closer to what Anand is talking about. When I went last time, I came back to tell Mommy the story of watching how the wagons quickly circle to protect their own. I can not even remember what the facts were, but I remember the feeling, the silence when I called it out.
Amos Guiora's book, The Crime of Complicity; The Bystander in the Holocaust, analyses the relationship between perpetrator, victim and bystander. His focus is the bystander and he provides a compelling legal framework for prosecuting bystanders that rise to he level of "complicit" in witnessing crimes against others, but do nothing. Bystander complicity in his calculus enables the perpetrator of crime to implement such crime at scale. Furthermore, reliance on a so-called "moral obligation" to intervene are empty words. Arguably, there is a critical mass in this crowd that proves his thesis. Said differently, if complicity was indeed a crime, might this not have accelerated into what the UN now suspects is a crime against humanity?
Anand, your piece is a fascinating assessment of how elite sociopolitical power and leverage builds and takes on its own momentum. Harnessing shared interests, absent of any moral reflection, and running on the heady thrill of wielding who-you-know and what they can do for you, it begins to bury any misgivings that might have applied. Insidious. You carve it out so well.
When we wonder how we got here-by here-with deranged unethical immoral leaders—this starts to shine a light. Sadly, so much has been unseen and unspoken…more to learn. Thank you, Anand.
This was a fascinating read. I'm in a different orbit than the people you describe. It's a wonderful luxury to opt out.
I will ask for forgiveness for providing my take on Epstein, which I called Epstein's Inner Ring, based on the great C.S. Lewis speech. I think you would like reading it.
Fascinating, and very enlightening, makes one so grateful to be a nobody!
I'm thinking back to earlier this year when your numerous speaking engagements were discontinued. As difficult as that must have been, after reading this, I'm so happy for you that you don't have to live and succeed only via powerful networks of corruption. It's as if these people willingly enslave themselves. What a way to live.
I had thought the same thing. Wasn't that because Anand's agent dropped him? It sure makes one question the agent's networking connections...
Anand, will you in a later installment cover the network of Epstein associates who are aligned by their common staunch support for Israel. This network cuts across the concentric circles surrounding Epstein from left to right and through the center. Arguably, this common bond made it easier for those sharing it to ignore issues of character and morality. This is a fraught and sensitive topic, but one we ignore at our peril. There is no true understanding of Epstein unless it is explored.
I read that Israel is bombing Tehran now, like they did in Gaza.
Anand, this is so great making so clear how the 'evaporation of courage' happens.
I was born in france in 1946, and my dad, was, once, a well known economist who became governor of the Bank of France, a nationalized institution. His name was Wilfrid Baumgartner. But he was of an incredible honesty. He used to say, you have to be aware all the time, and you have to speak the truth, it is only difficult just the first time before you say it, and then everything is easy, because you cannot go back. The reward of courage is just that, it is more courage. And he was so right.
Nothing like courage makes you happy, apart from kindness.
Anand, this is brilliant and incisive. I was an HBR editor when Ito was at MIT, and know several people who wound up in Epstein’s orbit. Your description of how the network operates is perfect. A lot of people who were once so proudly connected to him are now running for cover now.
Very enlightening and your personal example helps paint a picture of how slippery this can be for people who sell their soul to be included in these networks - all for connection, power, $ and influence. Yet, I doubt that, in the end, it is worth it - you have to sit with yourself at the end of the day and take account of how you have lived your life. You showed Integrity in standing up and voicing your concern - how ironic that it was as a participant on a panel/board designed to explore speaking truth to power! You can breathe more easily than some of the others who chose differently.
I have always been, for better or for worse, a person with an extremely strong moral compass. As a result, I have found myself swinging alone in the breeze more times than I can count. It can be a very lonely place to be. But if there is any chance for us to turn things around towards a more positive future, we will need many more people who are willing to stand up even at perhaps great personal cost. So far, I am not seeing nearly as much of this kind of bravery and steadfastness as we need.
Excellent. Enlightening and sadly not surprising.
Recently, I have been asked to pretend I don't know...and if asked, to say I don't know, even though I do know. I am incensed and cannot lie or even think of lying and hiding the truth. Such a very sad culture of corruption and of instilling fear. We must not acquiesce. Like my mother who was in the french resistance during WWII, we must resist. We must develop circles of resistance. Thank you Anand.
My goodness. This is the BEST journalism. Ethical and a moral outrage about those who are complicit, protect each other, and the “value” of the network at any cost.
Bravo, Anand. Backbone seems to be in very short supply in powerful networks. Quoting one of your other commenters, I’m “so grateful to be a nobody.”
Hi Anand,
After reading this, I forwarded it to my college-age kids. Here is what I wrote them:
Hi Family,
This is incredibly well-written and incredibly disturbing, but not shocking.I hope you can take the time to read it all.
You would think that 'networking' is an unalloyed good, or at least not evil, but Anand shows how it can be banally evil. Kant (and Buber) would root the problem in using people as means-to-an-end, not ends-in-themselves, as things ('its') instead of as, well, people.
I feel you have been brought up to know consciously, and even viscerally before your mind notes it, when this is going on. It is a creepy feeling, and you try to extricate yourself from the situation. If you do see something, I know you will want to say something, and I know you have the courage to do it. But the cost, as Anand shows, can be very high.
I know Anand will write another piece about Courage. And I hope he will also write a piece about the positive networking, though it will always overlap with the evil networks for they masquerade and invade the positive ones.
Last night we had a Progressive Dinner Party. I watched as people made new friends and connections. All good, right?
I will go to my high school 40th reunion. I expect it to be much closer to what Anand is talking about. When I went last time, I came back to tell Mommy the story of watching how the wagons quickly circle to protect their own. I can not even remember what the facts were, but I remember the feeling, the silence when I called it out.
Love,Daddy
Amos Guiora's book, The Crime of Complicity; The Bystander in the Holocaust, analyses the relationship between perpetrator, victim and bystander. His focus is the bystander and he provides a compelling legal framework for prosecuting bystanders that rise to he level of "complicit" in witnessing crimes against others, but do nothing. Bystander complicity in his calculus enables the perpetrator of crime to implement such crime at scale. Furthermore, reliance on a so-called "moral obligation" to intervene are empty words. Arguably, there is a critical mass in this crowd that proves his thesis. Said differently, if complicity was indeed a crime, might this not have accelerated into what the UN now suspects is a crime against humanity?
Thank you so much. you are a Godsend.
Anand, your piece is a fascinating assessment of how elite sociopolitical power and leverage builds and takes on its own momentum. Harnessing shared interests, absent of any moral reflection, and running on the heady thrill of wielding who-you-know and what they can do for you, it begins to bury any misgivings that might have applied. Insidious. You carve it out so well.
When we wonder how we got here-by here-with deranged unethical immoral leaders—this starts to shine a light. Sadly, so much has been unseen and unspoken…more to learn. Thank you, Anand.
Anand,
This was a fascinating read. I'm in a different orbit than the people you describe. It's a wonderful luxury to opt out.
I will ask for forgiveness for providing my take on Epstein, which I called Epstein's Inner Ring, based on the great C.S. Lewis speech. I think you would like reading it.
https://www.davidnroberts.com/p/epsteins-inner-ring
I wrote something about being acquainted with people in his orbit too for my local paper. What a falling-off was there. You can probably guess who these folks are. https://www.timesargus.com/opinion/commentary/fryer-tribalism-and-the-epstein-class/article_9c9783e5-507f-4043-a22a-576a8afbf2df.html