25: The Construct: Jeffrey Epstein: Difference between revisions

<p><em>00:02:29</em><br>This episode is ultimately about the world of institutions: the institutions of journalism that will regularly destroy individuals by reputation, but who will generally not ask comparable questions of other institutions. The institutions of the intelligence world, which owe us information as to what is known about Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell,  and their operation. The institutions of government that will not hold hearings into out-of-control intelligence activities as we did in the 1970s. And the institutions of technology, which track our every move and know all our secrets, yet cannot locate a single individual (like Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice,) who completely improbably seems to have vanished from the face of the earth as of March, 2020. </p>

<p><em>00:03:07</em><br>But just as this episode is about institutions, it is also about individuals and the various ways that they’re made vulnerable to institutional objectives. Because every individual may be destroyed at will by the same complex of institutions that are themselves deciding not to act with vigor in policing each other, we are all at risk when we deviate from their scripts and expect structural change. Thus, the act of pointing out the absurdity of the story is in fact terrifying, which gets to the questions raised by the young boy in our story. </p>

<p><em>00:03:44<br></em>Why does a child’s evident terror mean nothing to any adult nor any institution at all? </p>

<p><em>00:03:49</em><br>Why can we not talk openly about the risks to the individuals from the expert and authority classes when we have a conflict between them? </p>

<p><em>00:03:57</em><br>As it happens, analogs of all of those personal questions are now being asked in hushed tones about Jeffrey Epstein and the bizarre institutional response to his story. Why are we not expending resources to figure out what giant structure we apparently just tripped over? Are we really going to sit here and not ask whether this was a protected or state-sponsored pedophile running some kind of intelligence operation, to control people in positions of power, wealth, and influence? Are we okay with the idea that we aren’t even asking on-the-record questions about whether our intelligence communities traffic in underage minors, some as young as 12 years of age? </p>

<p><em>00:05:31</em><br>I’m not really here for myself, and I’ve been avoiding this. And perhaps at least directly, I’m not even mostly here for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his organization. I am, at last, really here selfishly, for a young boy, long gone, why abandoned!-to prove to him that it was actually possible at personal risk to stand up for children and against the system. These young girls are no less deserving, of course, but I don’t know any of them personally, so I will stick to the issue that animates me: the individual standing against the institutions who would crush him or her. </p>

I know this is crazy, but I think that there’s even a remote chance we can take these guys. We can at least try, and go down swinging. Let’s just release it, flaws and all, and hope that the world is more kind than its failing institutions. But that said, stay tuned. Please be a little bit forgiving and enjoy the episode.</p>