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Analytical Summary: "The Epstein class and the crisis of Trumpism"

Against The Stream · 2025-11-20

Core Argument

The central thesis is that the Epstein scandal has become a concentrated expression of class consciousness in the United States, crystallising a widespread popular recognition that the ruling class is not merely corrupt in isolated instances but systemically depraved. The phrase "Epstein class" — coined by working-class Americans in deindustrialised towns — represents a qualitative shift in popular understanding: it names the New York financial elite and the broader capitalist ruling class as a unified social force defined by criminality, impunity, and parasitism. This is not simply moral outrage at individual wrongdoing but a class judgement.

The episode argues that this scandal is politically dangerous for the capitalist system precisely because it unmasks the ruling class. It reveals that figures who publicly oppose each other — Clinton, Trump, Obama — are connected through the same networks of power and protection. Trump's initial opposition to releasing the Epstein files, followed by his forced U-turn when rebellion threatened his coalition, demonstrates that even a president positioned as an anti-establishment figure cannot ultimately break with the class he represents. The episode claims this is accelerating the disintegration of Trump's coalition — billionaires, middle-class reactionaries, and working-class voters — and driving radicalisation among the latter.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis draws on several Marxist concepts, though it deploys them through concrete political observation rather than abstract exposition:

Social being determines consciousness. The episode grounds its analysis of moral outrage in material conditions. It argues that the Epstein scandal resonates so powerfully because it confirms what workers already experience: a system that treats their lives as disposable. The connection is made explicit through comparison — capitalists who knowingly sell dangerous products, expose workers to deadly conditions, and wage wars of attrition are committing the same kind of violence as Epstein, only through different means.

The parasitic character of finance capital. The episode draws on Marx's distinction between the industrial bourgeoisie (which, historically, played a progressive role in developing productive forces) and the finance aristocracy. It argues that the contemporary ruling class has become purely parasitic — living off schemes, pillaging the state, and exhibiting the psychology of the lumpenproletariat at the heights of society. This is a direct reference to Marx's analysis in The Class Struggles in France (1850), where he describes the finance aristocracy as replicating "the life of the lumpen proletariat at the heights of bourgeois society."

The role of scandal in revolutionary consciousness. The episode develops a historical materialist argument about morality and class struggle. It rejects the idealist view that moral outrage alone drives history, but argues that in transitional periods — when a social system is visibly decaying — moral condemnation becomes directed at entire institutions and classes, not individuals. The comparison with the Reformation is central: Luther's attack on the papacy as a system, not on individual corrupt priests, expressed a pre-revolutionary mood that preceded the Peasants' War. The episode positions the Epstein scandal as a similar harbinger.

Imperialism and the question of the main enemy. The Ukraine analysis is grounded in Lenin's position on imperialist war. The episode argues that the only progressive outcome is the overthrow of the ruling class in all belligerent countries, but that communists in the West have a specific responsibility to fight their own ruling class — the most powerful and reactionary force in the world. This is not moral equivalence between Russia and NATO, but a strategic judgement about which imperialism poses the greater threat to the global working class.

Conjunctural Relevance

The episode connects the Epstein scandal to several concrete features of the current conjuncture:

The crisis of Trumpism. Trump's coalition is fracturing. The episode cites specific data: a million jobs lost in the US in 2025; 25% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck after necessities; Trump's forced backtracking on tariffs; his bombing of Iran despite promising no new wars. The Epstein files vote — passed with only one vote against Trump's initial opposition — is presented as evidence that his working-class base is no longer deferential. Marjorie Taylor Greene's defiance, which would have ended a Republican career a year ago, now strengthens her.

The decay of the Ukrainian regime. The episode provides detailed reporting on the corruption scandal engulfing Zelensky's inner circle: the embezzlement of funds for bulletproof vests, the golden toilet of a close associate, the codename "Alibaba" for the chief of staff, the rebellion within Zelensky's own party, the collapse of the military front, and the US-drafted peace deal that would effectively concede Russian victory. The argument is that this corruption is not incidental but structural — the product of a state captured by oligarchs and used as a proxy for NATO.

The limits of Western imperialism. The episode argues that Europe cannot and will not rebuild Ukraine. German industry is struggling to invest in itself; the EU is running out of money; the US has signalled it will not pay. Ukraine will be "spat out" — used and discarded. This connects to the broader argument about the parasitic character of the ruling class: the same logic that produces Epstein produces the war in Ukraine.

Where the Argument Continues

The episode deliberately leaves open several questions that are developed elsewhere in the corpus:

The question of revolutionary strategy in Russia. The episode argues that Russian workers must take power and wage a revolutionary war against NATO, but does not develop how this might be achieved under conditions of war and nationalist mobilisation. This is addressed in other Against the Stream episodes on the Russian left and in the RCI's broader analysis of the war.

The relationship between moral outrage and revolutionary organisation. The episode argues that scandal can be a harbinger of revolutionary crisis, but acknowledges that this consciousness is "confused" and can be directed in reactionary directions (e.g., anti-migrant moral panics). The question of how to translate outrage into revolutionary politics is the subject of ongoing work in the In Defence of Marxism magazine and the RCI's educational materials.

The trajectory of Trumpism. The episode predicts the disintegration of Trump's coalition but does not predict the precise form this will take. Other episodes — particularly those analysing the rise of figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene and the fracturing of the Republican Party — develop this thread further.

Connections

  • Marx, The Class Struggles in France (1850) — The analysis of the finance aristocracy as lumpen-proletariat at the heights of society is directly referenced.
  • Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism — The framework for analysing imperialist war and the question of the main enemy.
  • Trotsky, on war — The rejection of "who fired the first shot" as a framework for Marxist analysis.
  • Helene Bissonnette, "Morality and the Class Struggle" — Published in In Defence of Marxism magazine, this article develops the theoretical argument about the role of moral outrage in revolutionary periods.
  • Other Against the Stream episodes — The analysis of Trump's coalition and its contradictions is developed across multiple episodes; the Ukraine coverage is continuous and updated weekly.
  • The Spectre of Communism podcast — For deeper theoretical treatment of imperialism and the question of the main enemy.

Key Quotes

  1. "They were apparently asking him, are you for the forgotten people like us or are you for the Epstein class? ... It is the New York financial elite. And beyond actually that, it is the elite itself. And that is incredibly dangerous from the standpoint of the capitalist system."

  2. "Marx said 'capitalism came to the world with blood dripping from its every pore.' It's ingrained in capitalism this kind of brutality. But I think there's another element as well which is the development, the financialization, the crushing domination of the stock market, deindustrialization... the capitalist class to this extremely parasitic, extremely short sighted, stockbroking class."

  3. "Marx says that the finance aristocracy in both its mode of appropriation and mode of living, replicates the life of the lumpen proletariat at the heights of bourgeois society. Now lumpen proletariat in this context, he's talking about pimps, pickpockets, basically the criminal underclass. And he's saying that the stock exchange wolves are basically taking those habits and placing them right at the very top of bourgeois society."

  4. "There are certain points of history... transitional points in history where all of a sudden the moral outrage of the masses is directed at entire institutions and entire classes. And that is usually a harbinger of huge revolutionary crises to come. And the Reformation is an excellent example... When I see people talking about an Epstein class in the United States... if I were part of the bourgeoisie, I'd be looking at that and feeling extremely worried."

  5. "The only way that this war can end on a progressive basis is if the workers in Ukraine successfully take power or in Russia or anywhere in Europe... Our task is to fight our own ruling class, which is this incredibly powerful, incredibly reactionary ruling class, the Western and American ruling class. And our task is to expose their hypocrisy."