The Epstein scandal and moral rot

Today I was speaking with Asad, a friend and a long time interlocutor, someone with whom I often have deep conversations. We were discussing how, by releasing more of Epstein's files, the sex offender, we are realizing that this pedophile was well-connected to the most famous people. For example, from powerful, wealthy people and politicians like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Bill Clinton, Trump, and Prince Andrew to the most famous university professors at MIT, Harvard, and Yale, all were friends and companions of this predator. Apparently, some of these people were complicit in the crime of raping young girls, but now deny it.

The Epstein files expose two things: 1) the institutions that were supposed to prevent abuse instead supported it, and 2) the collapse of ethical foundations and social trust.

It seems there is an implicit double standard in understanding and applying ethical principles. Ethics for the masses, and ethics for the powerful, the wealthy, and celebrities. Maybe it should be explicit. That way, we would have a better understanding of social interactions. At least it would become clearer to us that just as societies are divided and defined into class categories based on power, wealth, education, and profession, creating social stratification, ethical principles should also be defined on the same basis.