‘Epstein files and the moral crisis in US’

This is apropos a letter to the Editor titled ‘Epstein files and the moral crisis in US’ carried by the newspaper in recent days.

Democracies can survive scandal. They struggle to survive sustained distrust. The Epstein files have reopened old wounds not because they deliver new convictions but because they highlight enduring ambiguity.

The presence of global elites in a trafficker’s social universe is enough to unsettle confidence. What follows now will determine whether that unease hardens into cynicism or evolves into reform. The moral shock many feel reflects a basic human instinct: children must be protected, and power must never shield exploitation. That instinct is not partisan and not ideological.

It is foundational. Institutions must demonstrate that the instinct aligns with enforcement. The names that appear in investigative documents may ultimately reflect poor judgment rather than criminal complicity, and that distinction matters. But it does not eliminate the need for vigilance. The Epstein case has become a symbol of elite access, institutional failure and the fragility of trust. Rebuilding that trust requires sunlight, consistency and courage. Anything less will leave the convulsion unresolved, and a society that cannot resolve its convulsions risks allowing suspicion to replace confidence in the very structures meant to uphold justice.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026