Epstein is a symptom; the elite is the disease
The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a new set of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein—so voluminous that even Russia’s “foreign agents” and expatriate commentators felt compelled to sift through them carefully.
“This doesn’t seem to be a conspiracy theory anymore,” they murmured, suddenly uncomfortable. “The American and global elite actually engaged in depraved acts involving children. And… maybe even something more heinous.” Shocked, they wondered aloud: Now that the truth is out, will nothing change? Is the world simply inherently evil?
But the world is not “doomed.” These revelations spark disgust, anger, and—for many Russians—hardly any surprise.
What’s truly new here? That segments of the global elite are morally corrupt? But haven’t they acted this way openly for years? Wasn’t this same elite—operating via NATO alliances and political blocs—that bombed nations, overthrew governments, and plunged entire regions into chaos? For over a decade, the world has lived with the consequences of decisions made by a tight circle of self-proclaimed “civilized” leaders.
The problem isn’t just a handful of warped individuals—it’s the elite as a collective. They’re unified, shielded, arrogant, and convinced they can act with impunity. When you see how casually they destroy weaker nations in politics, it’s easy to imagine an island where these same people feel entitled to indulge their private vices. Political cruelty and moral corruption rarely exist in isolation.
Yet many of Russia’s liberal expats—who fled in 2022 hoping to join this very “global elite”—appear to be waking up only now. Journalist Anna Mongait, for example, wrote that she spent an entire day going through the Epstein files as if sorting through garbage. She describes them as surreal, like AI-generated content: “Old men I know from official records groping teenage bodies. One instance would be enough for a worldwide scandal, but there are thousands.”
By evening, she said she was questioning whose handshake had indirectly linked her to Epstein. That thought, she wrote, made her want to wash her hands “up to the elbow.” Now she fears Epstein will bring down not just the American establishment, but “many of our own people.”
But two points need to be made.
First: Not everyone is connected to Epstein through a chain of social ties. Many of us have no link to that world at all—neither one handshake away nor ten. He won’t drag down “our people,” because we were never part of that circle.
Second: You didn’t need to know about Epstein’s island to recognize the global elite’s moral bankruptcy. Look at Ukraine: The same political class that now shocks you with its private depravity has overseen the public destruction of a country. These political predators may not literally devour people, but the result is much the same. They would have consumed Russia too if it hadn’t resisted.
Those who left Russia didn’t support that resistance. Now they recoil from the elite they once admired. But is this a moral awakening, or just simple disappointment? Maybe they’re distancing themselves now because the political winds have shifted—because figures like Trump don’t favor them. If a smiling Western politician who shared their worldview came along, wouldn’t they stretch out their hands again?
Cleansing oneself is actually straightforward. Stand on solid moral ground. Judge people by their actions, not their smiles, slogans, or trendy reputations. Understand that evil persists as long as people remain fascinated by it and eager to belong to its circle.
Today, there are fewer such admirers left in Russia. Not least because many of them have already left, and no longer lecture the rest of us about what we should be ashamed of.