Epstein is a horrible monster. His abuse is gradually being unraveled for the world to see. However, as we have learned about the vulnerable girls who were his victims, the media has largely overlooked the other victims of his predation.
Epstein was a snakeoil salesman.
Part of the Recipe
Epstein got where he was by giving people what they wanted. Even if it was a lie, even if it was wrong, he convinced people it was real and right. That is what a snakeoil salesman is, is it not?
Snakeoil salesmen need a product, of which the girls were part of the alluring recipe. You cannot have snakeoil without killing a few snakes. But that drab oil needs something to help the aroma, and maybe a fancy bottle and label. All of these make the final product.
The Other Victim
The girls were not the only vulnerable population. Epstein preyed upon the rich, powerful, and influential, infiltrating their circles with a smile, a handshake, a name drop, a hint, an invitation.
After testing the waters a bit comes the sales pitch. Connections, power, fame, popularity, pleasure, you can have it all, and it will be our secret.
Is this snakeoil as good as all that? Is everything I ever wanted really right there? This man is the friend of kings, presidents, CEOs, surely if he were wrong he would have been exposed by now.
And just like that, not only has the salesman claimed another victim, but the gathering crowd also becomes a bit more vulnerable themselves.
In the Snare
Of course, it's easy to make villains of all the rich and powerful people who were doing these terrible things right alongside Epstein, we like to make rich and powerful people into villains. And certainly some of these people were the sort of scum who wished they had thought of it first. But the rich are just as vulnerable to peer presure as everybody else, and the salesman is tricky. The mind is easily persuaded.
Sometimes it takes a while before the victim realizes the snakeoil does nothing.
And sometimes some of the ingredients are a bit... habit forming.
And sometimes some of the ingredients are permanently damaging.
And sometimes it is hard to admit that they have been tricked.
And now they are trapped.
The Human Condition
After Epstein was exposed there were many of his associations who said they wished they never knew him. While some of these people are likely just trying to save face, I think many of these people mean this quite sincerely, even if they had participated in his crimes, and even if they had enjoyed it at the time. I think that eventually they saw enough through the haze of the spell to realize it was all an illusion. Some of them escaped with relatively little damage, but I suspect that others have been just as scarred as some of his more tragic victims.
Of course the tragic nature of these other victims does not excuse them of their crimes, nor does it mean that there is not justice to be had. But I do think it means that, like the rest of us, they are human, and some of their names are perhaps deserving of a second chance.
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