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The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

scottaaronson.blog

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Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#361
post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> end of story. Is it? Here's another version I like even more that unsettles democracy dogmatics: power attracts the corrupt.

Well why not both? It is certainly true that power attracts those who seek to abuse it. But it is also true that a good fraction of those who are demonstrably corrupt started out way more idealistic.

Is it demonstrably true? Or do people just start out with zero record, making them appear more idealistic/allowing them to adopt more idealistic rhetoric without accusations of hypocrisy?

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Your article is careful to never explicitly state correlation between the vaccine and those seven girls deaths. Without such a link, your argument falls apart. > So answer me honestly: Did that same billionaire (Bill Gates) and his organisation (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) do the same exact trials in his home country (USA)? "clinical trials of unproven vaccines on thousands of poor minor girls, without consent…

[flagged]

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#363
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turns out Bill is just actually a piece of shit through and through

The kind of piece of shit who donates basically his entire fortune to charity? And actual charity at that, not Ellison style "Larry Ellison Research Foundation for Prolonging the Life of Larry Ellison and Getting Some Tax Breaks Along the Way".

I saw a recent video by Zizek where he mentioned the original gray eminence - François Leclerc du Tremblay who was Cardinal Richelieu’s right hand man. During the day he orchestrated the thirty year war and during the night he wrote the most beautiful meditations. Does doing good excuse the bad?

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxation is the mechanism that moves power from the people to the government, and increasingly politicians and their specific interests. Do you actually believe that if your taxes went up, power would be less concentrated, or that you or your countrymen would have more power? Every government goon doing authoritarian dirty work collects a paycheck and wouldn't do their job without it.

> Do you actually believe that if your taxes went up, power would be less concentrated, or that you or your countrymen would have more power? Absolutely. The source of most of the corruption I see in the world today is wealth, and specifically wealthy people paying people off to get their own way. If there was less wealth inequality there'd be much less scope for this. Note: I believe this would be the case even if t…

Every marginal dollar* taxed is a dollar politicians don't have to scrounge from a wealthy donor, in order to get that politician's pet interests achieved. You are saying MORE taxation means less wealthy donor influence on private citizens. And parent is saying LESS taxation means less policy influence on private citizens.

Here's what I say: how about both? Or neither? I think the scope of the problem is defined too narrowly so far in this particular thread.

*Or say, 10 dollars, since a donor's dollar is leveraged

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you run a crime organization that big and that out in the open (communicating openly via email, which not even the biggest drug cartels dare to do) without getting taken down by the various intelligence agencies of the world, even avoiding the U.S. federal law enforcement for the longest time? There is one answer: Epstein was protected by state forces, not that of U.S. but of its closest "ally" (more like mast…

> There is one answer: Epstein was protected by state forces, not that of U.S. but of its closest "ally" (more like master at this point). This is a bog-standard white nationalist trope (“ZOG”), gussied up with current affairs. Epstein avoided the consequences of his actions because he was a wealthy, powerful man surrounded by other wealthy, powerful men (who in turn stand to lose a great deal by having their behavio…

Just because a bad group of people also believe the same thing doesn't make that thing false. Nice attempt.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of that academic paper that was generated by a computer, this was before current wave of AI agents. The paper was just word soup but was accepted into a journal. Apologies I don't have link typing on mobile.

Postmodernism generator: https://www.elsewhere.org/journal/pomo/

lol reminds me of the new-age bullshit generator https://sebpearce.com/bullshit/

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The kind of piece of shit who donates basically his entire fortune to charity? And actual charity at that, not Ellison style "Larry Ellison Research Foundation for Prolonging the Life of Larry Ellison and Getting Some Tax Breaks Along the Way".

Jeffrey Epstein ran a child sex slavery operation for rich people. There is nothing at all you can do that could ever overcome the harm of helping that man, participating in his business, and calling him a friend. I don't care if Jesus Christ himself comes down and says Bill Gates is solely responsible for the ending of all suffering. Raping kids is Bad. Enslaving kids to rape is Bad. This is as clear as you can get…

As far as I am aware, Gates was not knowledgeable of the extent of Epstein's crimes.

At the time they met in 2011, Epstein had been convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.

How did he help him and call him a friend?

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#368
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turns out Bill is just actually a piece of shit through and through

The kind of piece of shit who donates basically his entire fortune to charity? And actual charity at that, not Ellison style "Larry Ellison Research Foundation for Prolonging the Life of Larry Ellison and Getting Some Tax Breaks Along the Way".

How many dollars does one have to donate to make up for raping a child?

Put a dollar figure on your daughter, sister, mother.

Now you get it.

Re: The time I didn't meet Jeffrey Epstein

#370

Power corrupts, end of story. Democracy (limited terms), taxation and anti-monopoly regulation are examples that show a path to cure the disease. Nobody should be trusted with too much power for too long.

Taxation is the mechanism that moves power from the people to the government, and increasingly politicians and their specific interests. Do you actually believe that if your taxes went up, power would be less concentrated, or that you or your countrymen would have more power? Every government goon doing authoritarian dirty work collects a paycheck and wouldn't do their job without it.

Taxation is what moves power from the powerful to the people. All of the Epstein crap was proceeded by Reagan and Thatcher and their trickle down BS that made the rich and powerful even more rich and powerful while everyone else could languish
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