The gilded life of infamous financier and Level Three sex offender came to an end, symbolizing a variety of remorseful truths for society – from how we write women out of stories to how we continuously turn a blind-eye to ugly truths. But based on what we know, Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. Using the few facts that have been made public knowledge, we cannot be surprised. Contrary to popular conspiracy theories, Epstein’s death is likely just as transparent as his crimes.
Not a very satisfying explanation, but using what we know on Epstein and his psychological profile it fits the bill. However, finding the intertwining factors that connect politics, psychology, postmodern society and conspiracy is perhaps philosophy. Epstein was a monster who the entire world was watching, after decades of having left him unwatched. Yet we still point the finger at the criminal justice system in America, when we know that it only operates if the public trusts it. Which in this case just proves that public trust has shape-shifted into something that lost touch with reality.
Fairytales and conspiracies aside, Epstein has been left unsupervised for decades. Epstein, who was facing federal sex trafficking charges and was accused of abusing dozens of underage girls, was found unresponsive in his prison cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Saturday. All that laid out in front of us about his crimes disappeared into thin air.
Controversies and questions ignited after his death, which is now a fully launched criminal FBI investigation and internal investigation by the Justice Department inspector general.
Back in 2007 a plea deal was made between Epstein and prosecutors in Florida in a way that prevented the authorities from charging four women involved in the investigation as co-conspirators. However, in July the Southern District of New York stated it was not bound by Florida’s plea-deal terms, which included the agreement not to prosecute these conspirators.
Now, Epstein’s accusers will be forced to sue the estate for any restitution – which will become myriad and complex due to his untimely death. If he had been convicted, his accusers could have tried to use the conviction to build his liability.
His death now entails that the law will view Epstein as though he had never been convinced or charged in the New York case. Actual trials also allow the victims to confront the criminal who harmed them. This empowering and potentially closure-providing moment will now be taken from Epstein’s victims.
Attorney General Barr stated Monday that the Bureau of Prisons is to blame for Epstein’s death for failing to, “adequately secure” him. “There will be accountability, we are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.”
The rest is a blank canvas. However, how we, as the general public, reacted to his death paints a very different picture. When it comes to society’s sense of reality, we fail to be completely pragmatic when it comes to ‘larger than life’ ideologies. Especially when their narratives are shoved down our throats by every channel or media outlet. The contemporary media is able to navigate the cultural complexity of contemporary globalized media landscapes to create alternative rationalizations, versus alternative realities. Our idea of a thesis and antithesis has phased away from the days it was pioneered by 19th Century German philosopher, G.W.F. Hegel himself. How do we really find a mechanism to arrive at a final truth or conclusion? We turn to conspiracy.
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The conspiracies commenced with Trump and were spun throughout Hollywood to the White House. It’s widely and almost baselessly alleged that Clinton, Trump, the feds, the justice system and Victoria’s Secret all have some blood on their hands. It’s everyone until it was no one.
The controversy was amplified when the President himself decided to believe them by retweeting one of the conspiratorial theories, one in particular that blames Bill Clinton for the murder of Epstein.
Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH ? Yeah right! How does that happen#JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he’s dead
I see #TrumpBodyCount trending but we know who did this!
RT if you’re not Surprised#EpsteinSuicide #ClintonBodyCount #ClintonCrimeFamily pic.twitter.com/Y9tGAWaAxX
— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) August 10, 2019
Trump, in the most Hegel forms of dialect, uses these fairy-tales to insert himself into issues that attract buzz and become topics of discussions, and he does so by using ‘us vs. them’ dialogue that has no political correctness, variation, diligence or morality for that matter – just cheap rhetoric.
The nauseating story of Epstein is about much more than conspiracies. It is about privilege, wealth and the powers of the super-rich that somehow bind us ordinary people. The Epstein saga isn’t even worth the conspiracies that are being manufactured to push political agendas. Epstein wanted an easy out, and it was simple human errors that allowed him to rig the system yet again.
Contrasting conspiracy with philosophy can explain how the human mind may fail to accept ideas when given hardly any conclusive evidence. The nature contradiction, best explained by Søren Kierkegaard and his reflections on Hegel’s theory of Dialectics (an argument that involves some sort of contradictory process between opposing sides) reality is something that quintessentially throws itself at you without any apology. We are so overwhelmed with potential lies from the media and from politicians that our brains stop trying to make sense of it all. We only turn to the media to antagonize or contradict any figure or current event. However, when a case is as concluded and conspired as the Epstein case, we cannot turn to conspiracy for progression but the practicalities of philosophy to find a realistic explanation.
Reality simply does not care about your desires or political affiliations. It ostracizes you while it fills you with information. Paradoxically, you are responsible for choosing to find possibility and collapsing actualities with the unique powers of your own mind. All in all, no one can essentially show you the right way or the ultimate truth – but you also cannot escape that you, one way or another, will have to find a way. No one can escape the ‘facts’.
Negligence or Intent?
The Epstein case may just be the most controversially famed in the current news cycle. Perhaps Epstein is even the most important prisoner of the decade. Unlike any other disgraced prisoner, Epstein just may have attracted some of the most attention from the media and political parties. So, to breathe air into the conspiracies each institution has fueled: how could it be that jail officials would allow him to kill himself? Perhaps conspiracy is not the answer, but the likelihood that we have a fairy tale belief of what justice in the US means. Or the systematic positioning as justice.
And in less than in hour… the conspiracy theories have started and they have festive hashtags. pic.twitter.com/SBfenfxULX
— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) August 10, 2019
Each Epstein conspiracy is a bit far-fetched in their own fashion and has triggered a sphere of public distrust which is to be expected, but only because facts about similar instances have been forgotten.
Remember the infamous death of Whitey Bulger, who was 89 years old and wheel-chaired into a corner when he was attacked to death in prison? Conspiracies are and have always acted as a blanket to provide certainty in an increasingly uncertain world. Surely, some may be more rational than others, like the belief that the powerful and ultra-rich act behind the scenes to benefit themselves — but we really need to ask ourselves: in 2019 is that even a conspiracy? Each of these political thoughts, concepts of freedoms, reasoning and conspiracies connect the metaphysics or speculations and how they apply to social and political reality. The full meaning of each controversy we conduct can only be understood with some sort of comprehension of its own social, philosophical and historical embodiment.
Once you make your mind up about something and ease your way down that path of realism you have conspired, you shut down any other explanation. It’s always better to be wrong and not know – then just not know. We hate the act of revision when it comes to our own opinions so much we are almost drawn to conspiracy. Once you accept conspiracy, you have accepted you are not wrong. Usually, we cannot accept that the result may just be subjective knowledge, bias and incompetence. If you completely isolate that possibility, you are not isolating the incompetence.
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