Ken Hurley
What do ultra-wealthy men do when their pleasure is derived by power? Power to control. Power to manipulate. Power to have their libertine libido satisfied by trafficked under-age girls.
Let’s consider the Epstein files and a pattern of history in America. The United States was not founded by modest, genteel men who possessed decorum and restraint. We know that America was founded by men who owned land, slaves, and capital and enjoyed impunity. During the colonial period, elite white men were not just politicians. They were slaveholders, land speculators, judges, clergy, merchants, farmers, and legislators. If you were a wealthy white man there was no separation between private vice and public power. If you owned people, you also had the influence to own their silence. You could thrust sexual violence at will, especially against enslaved women and girls. It was not prosecuted, because the victims were legal property. Physical or emotional harm was not considered unless it reduced the value of their property. So exploitation was not a scandal. It was part of the economy — an economy that built the White House with slave labor.
Men like Thomas Jefferson, a slave holder extraordinaire, were not whispered about during their time. His behavior was accepted because it was legal and he was useful, productive, and essential to the prospect of an enduring America — a new, wealthy, white male America. American power has too often separated humane morality from governance as long as powerful, wealthy, influential men were in office or were part of the American “kingmaker” squad.
Unquestioning adherence to religion continues to be a big problem. A bigger problem is the ultra rich. To quote a favorite lyric of mine, billionaires can “buy the competition, buy the politicians, buy your religion, they don’t need your permission.” They can even buy elections. It becomes a serious challenge when a cruel, dangerous, billionaire, white male supremacist and former kingmaker wannabe sits in the now gilded oval office.
The industrialists, railroad barons, financiers, men with unprecedented resources lived with near total immunity. They enjoyed private islands, private rail cars, private arrangements, sex scandals, coercions, and abuses that were handled quietly. Not with accountability, but with containment and non-disclosure payoffs. Or, if needed, more nefarious ways to silence victims permanently.
Discrediting women was easy and routine when it meant holding on to power. So when people act as if Trump is some kind of anomaly or an aberration of our system of governance — he is not. He is a regrettable amplification and unfiltered continuation of what is the worst of American history. The difference is not that he doesn’t lie, cheat, steal, and protect women abusers — the difference is that he does this all in front of our own eyes, ears, and sensibilities. Despite the claims that this administration is the most transparent administration in history, too many significant names of what may likely be powerful male names in the Epstein files have been redacted. Or should they rightfully be called the Trump/Epstein Files? The redactions do not protect the survivors. They protect those who may be pedophiles. If these men have nothing to hide, why are their names hidden?
This is not about one man, Epstein. This is about a system that has always allowed men with extreme wealth to move freely in spaces where rules, laws, and accountability do not apply to them. Epstein did not invent exploitation. He managed it to his version of success. He created an infrastructure for behavior that already had a long legal and cultural precedent with extreme wealth as its protective shield. What happens when the ultra wealthy get scared that the crimes they’ve committed today might be revealed by another ultra-wealthy individual tomorrow? Someone usually dies under suspicious circumstances.
Since our founding we have lived through different eras with different communication methods, yet we observe the same protections for the ultra wealthy. Men with power and vast amounts of money are given the luxury of time. They benefit from being well-connected. Their money buys them everything and anything they need or want. While the victims are marginalized, ignored, discredited, and called liars as they endure character assassination or worse.
Despite the heavily redacted Epstein files, the files still show enough disturbingly suspicious language from mystery people to make us wish we could learn more. The hope is that all of the incriminated men could be brought to justice. And yet, the only person in prison — is a woman. Although, she belongs there.
To quote Congressman Ted Lieu, “Donald Trump is in the Epstein files, thousands and thousands of times. There’s highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children — of Donald Trump threatening to kill children . . . If Jeffrey Epstein was human trafficking minors for these sex parties and you show up and patronize the establishment at that party, yes, you’re guilty because patronizing is part of the federal sex trafficking law. . . . the biggest privacy violation in history, they released a lot of pictures of minors, unredacted, just violated the privacy of these girls. It is uncalled for what they did. The one thing that they could not do under this law was to invade the privacy of these women who were girls at the time who were victims of sex trafficking.” The Justice Department has stated that some of the claims in the Epstein Files are “untrue and sensationalist claims” and lack corroborating evidence. No authorities have accused Trump of any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein’s crimes. Trump has consistently denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
I don’t expect this administration to do something fundamentally different. Not because Trump is uniquely monstrous, but because the presidency itself typically absorbs men like him without collapsing. How many times did you believe this was the final blow for Trump? There are probably dozens incidents you can name, including mocking POWs, mocking the disabled, despicable racist depictions of the Obamas, election interference, January 6th Capitol attack, January 6th Capitol attack pardons, two impeachments, felony convictions, sexual abuse convictions, fraud convictions, “SEDITIOUS behavior punishable by Death … HANG THEM” he wrote about six Democratic lawmakers who were members of the military or intelligence community (subsequently absolved by a grand jury), abuse of power, destroying the East Wing, and so much more. There’s no way he can come back from this one! But there he sits as the most powerful man in the world. The system was designed to keep the ultra wealthy protected by a cabal of other super-wealthy men and their flattering, fan-fawning, sycophants. The question is not how this could happen. The question is why do we pretend that America was ever built to stop men with extreme wealth when our country spent centuries protecting them? That’s our history. That’s our inheritance. That’s why none of this is as surprising as people like to think it is.
Eventually, this iteration of the ultra-wealthy bubble will burst. Today, it is the billionaire bubble. It’s a recurring theme in history, especially amongst the ultra wealthy who felt that harm would never reach them. This happens every time a movement based on grievance and exclusion starts collapsing. This time it is the MAGA movement. A lot of Americans claim to want “law and order.” They will tell you that if you are against law and order then you are a problem for America. And yet, the masked ICE thugs break our laws under the direction of the ultra wealthy. The power brokers do not want justice because then justice would also have to apply to them. They have no respect. Body armor, tactical weapons, willful killings in the streets without accountability. Even the acronym ICE is chilling. They do not regret the terror they have inflicted. They regret the chaos caused by those who resist.
After Jim-Crow violence drew international attention, the regret was not about lynching. It was about embarrassment. It was about optics. It was about the masks being removed. It was about being seen. If there was regret, it was that their bubble burst. Same with Joseph McCarthy, the Vietnam conflict, Richard Nixon, Iran-Contra, and the Iraqi invasion, to name a few others. The power brokers did not say we were wrong to destroy lives. They said, this got out of hand. The ultra wealthy do not change when harm is inflicted. They do not change when warnings are issued or when marginalized people ask them to change. They change when their methods stop delivering benefits to them. White Americans did not abandon segregation because black people made a moral argument. They abandoned legal segregation when it became economically inconvenient, politically unstable, and internationally embarrassing. The billionaire bubble people want distance without accountability. They want to exit without naming what they’ve enabled. They want relief from consequences, not repair of the harm they caused. It takes accountability to stop damage. Accountability can rise from a loss of power and a loss of legitimacy. Some ultra-wealthy people have enough integrity to tell the truth. Too many in the billionaire bubble do not. They’ll plead ignorance. They’ll want your understanding and forgiveness without culpability or offering a full confession. Accountability for those who float in the billionaire bubble is difficult to obtain but not impossible.
The history of the ultra wealthy always seems to be confronted with a choice — either responsibility or repetition. America’s power people have chosen repetition far more often than responsibility. Will this moment we are living through break the cycle or will it just reset it for the next billionaire bubble? History does not care how mortified you are. It cares about what you did when the realities become impossible to ignore. Good people have already given their lives in an effort to resist.
So, what can we do? Make our voices heard. Show up at the rallies. Get people registered to vote. Advocate for “Transparency in Settlements” by encouraging and supporting legislation that bans NDAs in cases of sexual assault and human trafficking. This would help prevent “buying silence.” Support alternative media and fact-checking. Most major media companies are now owned by billionaires. We can support independent, member-funded journalism that helps ensure that the “optics” are not the only thing being managed. Vote so that the mid-term elections are won by an overwhelming large margin in all congressional races and down-ballot races. Then, let’s work to assure that this administration does not find a way to intimidate, rig, steal, or prevent the mid-term election process. Then, let’s craft a meaningful vision for a better future that must be well-spoken, achievable, and resonate deeply even under tough scrutiny, so that a majority of people can say, I’m with you. I’m for dignity. I’m for integrity. I’m for a humane way that treats people fairly while holding accountable those who transgress human decency. As best we can, let’s live up to our personal life’s ambitions while we seek ways to assure that our representative democratic system of governance survives. Or, we can accept that the direction we are headed seems ok. Does anyone have other suggestions? I’ll listen.
