Disenchanting the Elite: Gossip, Epstein, and Our Cruel Optimism Towards Misogyny

Art by Angela Rische

Why are so many members of the elite being outed as perverts, pedophiles, and sexual sadists?

Lauren Berlant describes “cruel optimism” as an attachment to an idea, person, or thing that restricts your flourishing as an individual, such as drugs, violence, and the American dream. Our societal structure’s cruelly-optimistic, almost Stockholm-syndrome-y attachment to misogyny and sexual violence is what keeps the elite elite and the working class subjugated. 

When reading about the outlandish sexual violence of Epstein and his associates, I found that many people online believed Epstein to be some sort of satanic mastermind with a penchant for sacrifice and baby’s blood. Here’s the problem with that: Epstein was a misogynist that used institutions such as wealth and the patriarchy to hurt, maim, and sexually torture young girls. And the reason why this secret society of pedophiles is so extensive and protected is because the elite class works in tandem with systems of oppression, since the very existence of the elite depends on systems of oppression, to reinforce ruling power. This is not a magical phenomenon with a supernatural answer, this is real life misogyny.

Rape culture is the driving force behind many instances of violence that allow the elite to maintain power. Think IDF soldiers using rape as a terror tactic against Palestinians, think the proliferation of incel culture and incel extremists such as Elliot Rodger and Brian Kohlberger, think Brock Turner spending three months in jail for rape while Tameka Drummer is spending life in prison for possession of cannabis because of habitual offender laws. The same society that requires rape to reinforce its power structure is disturbed by gossip. Patriarchy (and its cousins racism, the tool of white supremacy, classism, the exploitation of the workforce, and elitism, the preservation and hoarding of capital) is a tool to discern between the elite and the subjugated.

Is gossip a way to disassemble the ruling class or does it reinforce cruelty? Both. I would add that it matters which way the gossip is targeted. Gossiping about the Epstein files creates radical information networks in a way that slut-shaming does not. It is a matter of punching up versus punching down.

Gossip can help us be aware of violence, but cannot prevent it. We can use gossip to disassemble structures of oppression, but we often do not see that as a realistic option because we are disillusioned by the allure of the elite, and have internalized our own disempowerment to the advantage of the ruling class. In reality, there are many of us and only a few of them. 

The releasing of the Epstein Files almost mimics the 2017 #MeToo movement, where some minor players are being punished, but there seem to be almost no consequences for kingpins such as Trump, Elon Musk, and the Clintons. Just as in the #MeToo movement, we are aware of exploitative operations propelled by rape culture, but most of the time our action stops at awareness, and the rapists in power remain in power.

To be elite is to be granted access to the extreme. The elite’s obsession with intellectual property allows them to devalue the human condition as a boundary line and encourages them to pursue immortality and complete domination. The aspects of the human condition which are all meant to equalize us—such as death, sickness, and the law—are abscondable with enough money and willpower. Billionaire attempts to self-clone, prevent aging, and buy-out the law are proof that the elite are interested in using as many resources as possible to maintain their elite status, and ultimately make themselves godlike. 

Elitism is a culture of accessing and relishing in what is taboo for the rest of us. Violence is the language of wealth. Taboo is exclusive. The elite do not wish to be bound by the earthly conditions of law. The reason why so many wealthy elites are poachers, white-collar criminals, traffickers, and pedophiles is because they can get away with it.

Ella Ferrero

Art by Angela Rische