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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 7, 2025

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Most of those people are already old.

The most plausible theory remains that the Clintons/Mossad/whoever else wanted to kill Epstein destroyed thé evidence and the FBI would be chasing shadows to roll up a blackmail network that no longer exists(so far as anyone knows, Epstein‘s MO was to lie about his girls’ ages to collect blackmail material, theres no reason to believe these people are like actual pedophiles).

I’m not doubting that if you really wanted to prosecute some people for statutory, you could- but the FBI probably thinks this is beneath launching a major investigation.

Epstein‘s MO was to lie about his girls’ ages to collect blackmail material, theres no reason to believe these people are like actual pedophiles

I mean, sure. But you'd really hope that such people would want reassurances that the woman was there willingly and weren't coerced, drugged, or blackmailed into it themselves. I think most 'normal' people would be sketched out, even if they don't immediately go to the cops.

That he was able to get away with it for quite a while hints that people were willingly turning a blind eye. Not the same as being complicit, but it still reads like a moral failure.

And of course we can go AKSHULLY there's no pedophilia involved whatsoever b/c all the girls were post-pubescent and in their teens. I am sure some people think there's documented proof of like, children being raped or something.

Though of course the more conspiratorial element is that the really nasty stuff occurred on the jet or on the private island.

Do I think there was literal child sacrifice or something going on? No.

But my priors on someone who is involved in pimping underage women out being involved in even more depraved activities are... reasonably high.

It is genuinely harder for me to believe that almost all global elites diligently avoid taboo and socially abhorrent/illegal behaviors. Especially with the more recent dominoes falling WRT to P. Diddy and that whole circle. That said, I don't think they're going around consuming human flesh or bathing in virgin blood, I doubt the very worst of the theories are at all accurate.

What can I say, ensuring there are consequences for elites misbehavior is one of my pet issues.

I mean, sure. But you'd really hope that such people would want reassurances that the woman was there willingly and weren't coerced, drugged, or blackmailed into it themselves. I think most 'normal' people would be sketched out, even if they don't immediately go to the cops.

This is topical again because of Diddy but, when people see people hanging around a rich, powerful guy and being used for sex, they assume "whore" not "sex slave".

Because, y'know, there are a lot of whores out there.

I assume that escorts and drugs are a fairly common entertainment at the sorts of parties Epstein was hosting, and telling the difference between a 17 year old who wants you to think she’s ~20 and an actual 20 year old is at the very least thé sort of thing that comes with a high error rate- and that’s before you take into account that presumably all of these guys had at the very least a beer or two.

I do not think bill gates was doing good at these parties. I think that there is no moral difference on his end between what he did and hiring an of-legal-age escort. This is not good, but it is not a productive use of police time to try to crack down on the Johns here.

Now Epstein recruited underaged girls into prostitution. This is seriously bad and the full weight of the law should get involved- but he’s dead.

Right. But I'm pointing out that if you were approached by Epstein and he said "hey that girl you banged was actually 15/16. We can keep it under wraps but you'll have to do some favors going forward", aren't you a LITTLE morally culpable for not taking the hit and blowing the whistle? Yes, you acted with reasonable propriety, you were lied to, you weren't intentionally doing the illegal thing, but now you're buying into it.

It beggars belief that nobody attending the parties came into knowledge that he was bringing around underage girls. Its uncertain how many sought out the parties because there were underage girls there, but the claims of "oh yeah, everybody heard the rumor that this was going on" only come out once the truth is already known.

Sure would be nice for someone to proffer these facts before they become public knowledge.

aren't you a LITTLE morally culpable for not taking the hit and blowing the whistle?

No. And while 'buying into it' implies/generally comes at a cost to the public at large, this is the same public perpetrating the hysterics around an action that isn't immoral (hence the need for the hysterics).

So it's on the same moral level as dodging any other tax is. No more, no less. [Which is why you want harsh consequences for elite misbehavior in this way: it's dodging the tax every other member of the public has to pay to its hysterical members.]

It beggars belief that nobody attending the parties came into knowledge that he was bringing around underage girls.

I don't know how long did the scheme last, but this quote from the Don himself was from 2002:

I’ve known Jeff [Epstein] for 15 years. Terrific guy, He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.