Politics: The Seduction of Crime
Peter Schultz
“Beyond the specific individuals involved, the Epstein scandal reveals the character of a social class. The American oligarchy has amassed its wealth through parasitism, speculation and fraud. It is, in its social being, in its mode of acquisition, a criminal class at the summit of American politics. Its fortunes are the product of financial manipulation, corporate swindling, war profiteering and the exploitation of billions of people.
“The oligarchy feels itself above the law. Trump is the personification of this class—brazenly criminal, contemptuous of democratic norms, openly inciting fascist violence and plotting war. His administration views the Constitution as a worthless piece of paper, international law as irrelevant. It declares the right to murder individuals, citizen or non-citizen, with, in the words of Vice President JD Vance, “absolute immunity.”
“The American ruling class is wallowing in political, social, legal and moral degradation. The Epstein scandal holds up a mirror to itself.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/02/02/wepr-f02.html
The statement above does not go far enough, because not only does “the Epstein scandal reveal the character of a social class,” it also reveals the character of the political. Criminality is intrinsic to politics. In fact, politics may be said to involve, always and everywhere, socially approved criminality. For example, consider what is called “the war on terror” which has revolved around “targeted assassinations.” Certainly, these “targeted assassinations” would be crimes, would be “murders,” if committed by, say, Tony Soprano or any other mafioso. It is, in brief, impossible to imagine politics devoid of such socially approved criminality, or to imagine that politicians aren’t attracted to politics, to a political life because it involves, revolves around socially approved criminality. You may even say that politics involves, intrinsically, the seduction of crime.
So, yes, “the oligarchy feels itself above the law” and, yes, “Trump is the personification of this class.” The oligarchy feels itself above the law because it is above the law or outside of the law, and Trump is its personification because he proudly asserts, over and over, that he is not bound by law, that he engages in socially approved criminality. So too did Ollie North, when he became a national hero during Iran-Contra. And, of course, Dick Cheney embraced lawlessness when he took the United States to “the dark side” after the attacks on 9/11. But it is a mistake to think that “The American ruling class is wallowing in political, social, legal and moral degradation.” They are not “wallowing” in anything, nor are they experiencing any kind of “degradation.” Their criminality is socially approved. Expose it as much as you like, but do not expect that that exposure will lead to their demise. In fact, expect that it will not only maintain but that it will fortify their power.
So it goes.
