A quick aside from this very excellent piece, I really really appreciated you doing a voice-over of this piece, and not using an AI service that so many places are starting to use. It adds a layer of care and authenticity, as well as being accommodating.
Had to share here, Anand. I just watched your devastatingly insightful segment on Morning Joe. You translated your writing into a clear indictment on the Epstein class. They should be called The True Deplorables.
Anand, this was the most powerful piece that you've ever written. Thanks for doing the voice-over yourself. It carries much more emotional impact than AI text-to-voice. It totally blows my average middle class American mind that this entirely separate world exists somewhere above while below exists a dark, racist, white-suppremist, fascist, nihilistic, violent subculture.
Yes, I agree. It is powerful. It helped me to see that the things I complain about daily— dehumanization in doctors’ offices, for example— are part of a larger picture.
“What team are you pulling for? … None” summed up, for me, that these elites ARE the team. That’s why they fluidly and effortlessly shift between the political parties and the policies of the parties. They are only interested in their own aggrandizement and their own betterment. Until they are reigned in (somehow, how?) we will be their subjects, given their immense wealth and mobility and ability to skirt whatever laws they decide are intrusive to them. This problem has been building for decades … and it will take an enormous effort to lessen or hopefully eradicate. The power is in our hands, yet like the Epstein elite, we need a leader to strengthen the bonds between us.
I agree that the problem has been building for decades... at least since Reagan was Governor of California after being turned from a Democrat into a Republican while he was the spokesperson for General Electric.
As for needing a leader to eradicate this challenge, I don't know if there's anyone like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr out there today. And if I'm correct, then the expression "We are the leaders we've been waiting for" comes to mind. I think if each of us commits to "leading" the societal transformation that's so desperately needed then that transformation will happen organically ... kind of like how the fall of the USSR happened without (to the best of my knowledge) any one person catalyzing that hugely historic event. My personal work is not driven by following a leader like Dr. King. But I do take a lot of inspiration from a variety of motion pictures and old television shows. This rotating set of heroes may be fictional, but they are real to me. Here's a scene from one personal favorite: an edited version of the filibuster scene from 1939's Mr Smith Goes to Washington, starring Jimmy Stewart...
I have the same feeling reading this that I do flying through nasty weather that seems impenetrable and into the sunny blue sky that always lies above it, making everything clear - and possible. For me this is an instant classic, required reading. We always knew there's an elite class system, which is the part of the reason your kids need to go to a good college - it's the people you meet there and the network they can offer you that counts as much as getting in and doing well and actually learning something. But our current network got pierced by a guy who didn't do that, instead went to Europe where he learned a few tricks and very brilliantly used his only skill - math - to teach wealthy Manhattan girls and charm them into invitations to dinner at home as their tutor. Trump, his fellow Bridge-and-Tunnel outer borough outcast from Manhattan social circles, must have been astonished, and later saved by Epstein's Russian connections when US banks wouldn't lend to him because he was a deadbeat. There's the origin story.
Now we need the list, one name at a time, alphabetically, released every week. This administration can't be trusted not to destroy evidence and although many people know the details by heart, the evidence, and prosecution, is the crucial thing.
As I read your eloquent piece, I am forced to wonder whether any of this is actually new. Isn't this how the world has always worked, and if so, how is it that so many of us didn't know?
Interesting thought! I don’t think it’s exactly repetition. More to do with the fact that we believed (and grew up inside of) the American dream and what we thought were American ideals and ideas. So- to have Trump and his gang of miscreants grab them away, is shocking in its own way.
Yes. I do have to wonder, though, how someone like Epstein managed to worm his way into it. But I guess when you successfully extort people, doors open.
Paula- I remember my Mom, a devout Catholic, asking what had the priests done wrong? She was very agitated , it was the late '80's. My brother answered her with anatomical exactitude. I helped her sit.
In a word the answer to your question is - girls. I'm not appraised as to Epstein's extortion record but it is apparent he was a trader in a commodity much prized.
An old friend and I had conversations along these lines Paula. It was over 50 years ago and the one thing I recall vividly was his comment 'They all reach for the phones at the same time.' At the time I regarded that as cynical...
This is one of the finest essays on The Epstein Connections that I've read or expect to read
in the future. Congratulations to you, Mr. G. (I know how to pronounce your last name but hesitate to type it, as I'd be at risk of making a botch of that.)
Thank you for all you are doing to keep the rest of us informed & horrified.
Blisteringly good article. Lays it all bare. Clearly, it's this humanistically corrupt and fungible group, given its resources and the fact that it typically dwells (slithers) in the shadows, that poses the greatest challenge to our malfunctioning democracy, and to global stability. It's a root cause, whereas the disparity of wealth, climate change, the negative fallout from AI, and our constitutional crisis are all symptoms.
I am in awe of your clear sighted ability to define all this horror for us mere peons, especially the final last four paragraphs! Thank you for your excellent work Anand!
A quick aside from this very excellent piece, I really really appreciated you doing a voice-over of this piece, and not using an AI service that so many places are starting to use. It adds a layer of care and authenticity, as well as being accommodating.
Yes. Thank you.
YES
So good- only you could tie this all together so clearly and informatively! You are such a gem, thank you
🙏🏼
Had to share here, Anand. I just watched your devastatingly insightful segment on Morning Joe. You translated your writing into a clear indictment on the Epstein class. They should be called The True Deplorables.
Anand, this was the most powerful piece that you've ever written. Thanks for doing the voice-over yourself. It carries much more emotional impact than AI text-to-voice. It totally blows my average middle class American mind that this entirely separate world exists somewhere above while below exists a dark, racist, white-suppremist, fascist, nihilistic, violent subculture.
Yes, I agree. It is powerful. It helped me to see that the things I complain about daily— dehumanization in doctors’ offices, for example— are part of a larger picture.
I agree
Brilliant. Best analysis I have seen bar none. I upgraded to pay!
This was a brilliant analysis and summary of what these files revealed about power.
“What team are you pulling for? … None” summed up, for me, that these elites ARE the team. That’s why they fluidly and effortlessly shift between the political parties and the policies of the parties. They are only interested in their own aggrandizement and their own betterment. Until they are reigned in (somehow, how?) we will be their subjects, given their immense wealth and mobility and ability to skirt whatever laws they decide are intrusive to them. This problem has been building for decades … and it will take an enormous effort to lessen or hopefully eradicate. The power is in our hands, yet like the Epstein elite, we need a leader to strengthen the bonds between us.
I agree that the problem has been building for decades... at least since Reagan was Governor of California after being turned from a Democrat into a Republican while he was the spokesperson for General Electric.
As for needing a leader to eradicate this challenge, I don't know if there's anyone like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr out there today. And if I'm correct, then the expression "We are the leaders we've been waiting for" comes to mind. I think if each of us commits to "leading" the societal transformation that's so desperately needed then that transformation will happen organically ... kind of like how the fall of the USSR happened without (to the best of my knowledge) any one person catalyzing that hugely historic event. My personal work is not driven by following a leader like Dr. King. But I do take a lot of inspiration from a variety of motion pictures and old television shows. This rotating set of heroes may be fictional, but they are real to me. Here's a scene from one personal favorite: an edited version of the filibuster scene from 1939's Mr Smith Goes to Washington, starring Jimmy Stewart...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6UbYHCkoZs
Perfectly summarized! You painted the picture we avoided to see, but secretly knew to be.
Nailed it with that comment
Thanks
I have the same feeling reading this that I do flying through nasty weather that seems impenetrable and into the sunny blue sky that always lies above it, making everything clear - and possible. For me this is an instant classic, required reading. We always knew there's an elite class system, which is the part of the reason your kids need to go to a good college - it's the people you meet there and the network they can offer you that counts as much as getting in and doing well and actually learning something. But our current network got pierced by a guy who didn't do that, instead went to Europe where he learned a few tricks and very brilliantly used his only skill - math - to teach wealthy Manhattan girls and charm them into invitations to dinner at home as their tutor. Trump, his fellow Bridge-and-Tunnel outer borough outcast from Manhattan social circles, must have been astonished, and later saved by Epstein's Russian connections when US banks wouldn't lend to him because he was a deadbeat. There's the origin story.
Now we need the list, one name at a time, alphabetically, released every week. This administration can't be trusted not to destroy evidence and although many people know the details by heart, the evidence, and prosecution, is the crucial thing.
As I read your eloquent piece, I am forced to wonder whether any of this is actually new. Isn't this how the world has always worked, and if so, how is it that so many of us didn't know?
Interesting thought! I don’t think it’s exactly repetition. More to do with the fact that we believed (and grew up inside of) the American dream and what we thought were American ideals and ideas. So- to have Trump and his gang of miscreants grab them away, is shocking in its own way.
Yes, I agree. And I guess the next question is how to stop it, if that's even possible.
That world isn't visible or accessible to us mere commoners. As Wajahat Ali says, "It's a big club, and you ain't in it."
Yes. I do have to wonder, though, how someone like Epstein managed to worm his way into it. But I guess when you successfully extort people, doors open.
Paula- I remember my Mom, a devout Catholic, asking what had the priests done wrong? She was very agitated , it was the late '80's. My brother answered her with anatomical exactitude. I helped her sit.
In a word the answer to your question is - girls. I'm not appraised as to Epstein's extortion record but it is apparent he was a trader in a commodity much prized.
An old friend and I had conversations along these lines Paula. It was over 50 years ago and the one thing I recall vividly was his comment 'They all reach for the phones at the same time.' At the time I regarded that as cynical...
This is one of the finest essays on The Epstein Connections that I've read or expect to read
in the future. Congratulations to you, Mr. G. (I know how to pronounce your last name but hesitate to type it, as I'd be at risk of making a botch of that.)
Thank you for all you are doing to keep the rest of us informed & horrified.
Linda Winston
This is the message I have been waiting for. You have the insight we need. I hope you will be able to spread it far and wide.
Brilliant and edifying. I would refer people to Sarah Kendzior’s work. She’s on Substack. She’s been on to this for years. Worth a look.
Blisteringly good article. Lays it all bare. Clearly, it's this humanistically corrupt and fungible group, given its resources and the fact that it typically dwells (slithers) in the shadows, that poses the greatest challenge to our malfunctioning democracy, and to global stability. It's a root cause, whereas the disparity of wealth, climate change, the negative fallout from AI, and our constitutional crisis are all symptoms.
I am in awe of your clear sighted ability to define all this horror for us mere peons, especially the final last four paragraphs! Thank you for your excellent work Anand!
“This diversity masked a greater solidarity.” That sentence helped me see. This is a brilliant piece of writing. Thank you.
This is one of the best, most insightful pieces I’ve yet read on this topic. 🙏