I moved in these circles and saw the code up close: wealth as virtue, power as morality, and strivers like Michael Wolff treating predators not as warnings—but as career opportunities.
Excellent article Cliff. I always knew Ronnie Reagan started the destruction of this country by dismantling the regulators and making greed a virtue. I saw it coming and saw fox slowly but surely brainwash the idiot class into accepting all this shit as the new American utopia. Every one of these elite assholes needs to be not only exposed but punished with a severity that makes any future wannabes think twice about trying this shit again. Keep it up brother!!
Brilliant writing. Extremely depressing but all true, without a doubt. The question is not, how did we get here, but how do extract ourselves and redeem ourselves? Wolff had me fooled. New money, old money, bad money. Capitalism is where we went wrong. Some version of it or some mixture of organic capitalism with socialism is where we need to look. But as long as our youth are indoctrinated into the competitive meritocracy and culture of consumerism and social indifference and as long as attendance in those institutions of severe right-leaning instruction and behavioral modification is compulsory, we will not see any significant revolution r change. The kids are pacified, infantilized, and conditioned to follow, obey, and crave attention. They are insecure without a great authority figure to issue orders and punish individuality or free thinking.
I've always thought Epstein was the quintessential con man. He could reflect back to you an image of yourself which is your dream persona. He made tragically bad mistakes when referencing math, so I question his innate abilities. He got by in a similar style to James Murdoch.
I was in grad school in the 80s, and knew lots of people from Horace Mann. (I was at Harvard. So not too big a coincidence.) But the pedophilia scandal was covered up pretty well. Parents, students, not a word to non-Horace Mann people.
I take it you got a good laugh out of the Laffer Curve too.
That was my barroom napkin reference :)
Excellent essay. I had no idea things were quite so grim at Dalton and Horace Mann, but should have guessed.
Grotesque!
Excellent article Cliff. I always knew Ronnie Reagan started the destruction of this country by dismantling the regulators and making greed a virtue. I saw it coming and saw fox slowly but surely brainwash the idiot class into accepting all this shit as the new American utopia. Every one of these elite assholes needs to be not only exposed but punished with a severity that makes any future wannabes think twice about trying this shit again. Keep it up brother!!
This makes so much sense! In a fucked up way but reading this was like opening a door to something I knew was there, I just couldn't see it. Thanks!
Excellent article describing a grotesque reality.
Brilliant writing. Extremely depressing but all true, without a doubt. The question is not, how did we get here, but how do extract ourselves and redeem ourselves? Wolff had me fooled. New money, old money, bad money. Capitalism is where we went wrong. Some version of it or some mixture of organic capitalism with socialism is where we need to look. But as long as our youth are indoctrinated into the competitive meritocracy and culture of consumerism and social indifference and as long as attendance in those institutions of severe right-leaning instruction and behavioral modification is compulsory, we will not see any significant revolution r change. The kids are pacified, infantilized, and conditioned to follow, obey, and crave attention. They are insecure without a great authority figure to issue orders and punish individuality or free thinking.
I've always thought Epstein was the quintessential con man. He could reflect back to you an image of yourself which is your dream persona. He made tragically bad mistakes when referencing math, so I question his innate abilities. He got by in a similar style to James Murdoch.
Vassar and Montclair Kimberley would never have gotten Wolff where he wanted to go.
I was in grad school in the 80s, and knew lots of people from Horace Mann. (I was at Harvard. So not too big a coincidence.) But the pedophilia scandal was covered up pretty well. Parents, students, not a word to non-Horace Mann people.
https://youtu.be/4cFg-GIPI4k?si=Y-2V90cSDGdFHNG9