Class conflict in America has been primarily framed either in economic terms favored by the left or in cultural terms favored by the right. The Epstein files could be presented from either perspective, but their most potent impact has been the cultural division they expose between an elite class and Trump’s populist base.

The Epstein Files describe a ring of men who exploited young women for sexual encounters. The media has focused on the struggle to fully release all the information about who was involved with the most-covered pedophile in American history, Brian Epstein. He was found dead in 2019 in a New York jail cell while being held on charges that he operated a sex-trafficking ring that preyed on young women and underage girls.

Since then, the public’s curiosity has been piqued by revelations about celebrities in Epstein’s orbit, as they anxiously await further exposure. So far, those caught on camera with Epstein have included President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, Noam Chomsky, and Trump’s former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon.

Collectively, they represent a broad political spectrum. But they share one significant trait: they are the most visible of the rich and powerful men, who are statistically in the upper 1% in wealth and, literally, in political power. They are the personification of the Elite Class.

Trump, perhaps inadvertently, reinforced that image when he complained that releasing all the Epstein Files would expose, like “you know, highly respected bankers and lawyers and others.” Interesting note: both Epstein and Bannon were former investment bank officers at big-name New York firms.

One could respond, “So what? Every nation has an elite.” That is true. The global market research firm IPSOS reported in a February 2024 survey on how citizens in 28 countries viewed their elites. The elites were defined as the people who exercise power or influence in politics, business, the media, technology, science, and academia. The first question asked those surveyed whether such a group existed, to the extent that these elites were “a closely connected group of people.” The average country response was a notch above 60%, including America.

That belief doesn’t align with America as a land of equal opportunity in a unique democratic republic that offers an equal chance for all to succeed. To question this commonly held belief, propagated by public education, has been labeled by President Donald Trump as “hating America.” We probably have high expectations because of the individual freedoms we possess, but frustration with not experiencing equal opportunities may account for the IPSOS survey showing distrust of our country’s elite.

Americans believe that our political and economic elite don’t care about hard-working people more than in most other surveyed countries and significantly more than our Canadian next-door neighbors believe about their government. But the most significant difference is that a higher percentage of our citizens believe that our “elite” make decisions based on their own interests rather than the needs of the rest of us. That is, they just don’t care about our needs or the laws that govern all of us.

Epstein files exposed this attitude by the apparent toleration of pedophilia among those in Epstein’s company. There is no greater infraction of our moral laws than pedophilia. No polls on public........

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