Jeff Epstein

The cultural landscape has been irrevocably changed by the Epstein revelations. Of course, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. While I’ve been following the news like everyone else, I’ve only loosely discussed it here because the shit that’s being alleged is so cartoonishly evil that it would push the boundaries of what any writer could conceive. I mean, Jeffery Epstein might’ve been behind QAnon? It sounds too stupid to be true. But more shockingly, apparently there really was a cabal of sex criminals running the world. Hell, they STILL are in charge. And those that initially alleged its existence and dismissed as cranks were behind it the entire time! I mean, Alex Jones might be the most vindicated man in history but in an absurd plot twist, he is now running PR for the cabal!

But I don’t want us to lose sight of the true depravity of the situation. There are real victims here. And because of the collective sense of helplessness we all feel, I hope we don’t compartmentalize this saga into another internet meme.

Yet the reason I bring this up is because these file releases feel like a nuclear bomb was dropped on the contemporary culture war. Leveling accusations of “virtue signaling” and “identity politics” sound almost meaningless. The left/right distinctions that have defined political thinking since the 20th century are nearly obsolete. With outing of this cabal, even the term “culture war” is a misnomer. The file releases have confirmed our worst fears. The eternal struggle has been, and maybe always will be, rich vs. poor.

Of course, the dead carcass of old world thinking will continue to fester in the minds of these so called “cultural warriors”. One doesn’t easily ween themselves off the propaganda which nourished them for so long. Or, in other words, “fascistic” thinking will carry on. But its nakedness has been exposed.

But just to conclude this thought, while there are no shortage of definitions for fascism, I like to keep things very simple. In my mind, fascism transcends being merely a material or political movement, but it’s a psychological movement as well. It’s well documented that fascist movements take advantage of an individual’s insecurities and loneliness by enrapturing them in the spectacle of power over the Other. So fascism is not only the fetishization of power, but also the fetishization of the aesthetics of power.