How the Epstein Files affect lives of everyday people more than you might realise

What’s the story?

The Epstein Files reveal more about the lives of everyday people than most might imagine.

That's according to US journalist and podcast host Anand Giridharadas, who says the recent unsealing of around three million documents related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein go some way to explaining culture wars and hostile political divides which have emerged and grown in recent years.

Giridharadas says those scouring the files to uncover evidence of wrongdoing by global elites may be missing half of the story.

"The Epstein class as a whole, if you look at the way it operates, you start to understand a lot about your life," he tells The News Agents.

"You start to understand a lot about why your life goes the way it goes, why your kid's education is in the paltry condition it may be in, why your healthcare is threadbare.

"You start to realise that you're swimming downstream just trying to make it through, and upstream these are the people – the decision makers in many cases – the powerful elites who shape your life.”He says it is the sense of "human disposability" in allegations of all crimes documented in the Epstein Files that is at the heart of the global scandal.

"This is a global power elite whose loyalty is more to its own members than to people down below in the communities they represent," he says.

While the crimes outlined in the files are historic, he says it underlines society today in many ways.

"It's very much still with us, and I think it's worth understanding how it works, so that you can understand why your life is going the way it's going, and so that you can choose leaders who are not affiliated with these networks," Giridharadas adds.

"We should keep asking ourselves, why is it that so many of the people who happen to be in positions of influence over our lives happen to have not found it a problem to consort with a convicted sex criminal?"

‘Division is just a game to these people'

Americans named in the Epstein Files range from Republican to Democrat. In the UK there are also key figures from across the political spectrum. Being named in the Epstein Files does not automatically suggest any wrongdoing.

Giridharadas says there is a loyalty among these people, often seemingly in extreme opposition, which keeps middle and lower classes divided.

"A lot of the people we watch on TV fighting with each other are, behind closed doors, hanging out, breaking bread, revealing that it is just a game," he tells Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel.

"What they're actually doing is helping each other stay in power, helping each other have access to information that is not available to the rest of us.

"I think it raises a question of whether we in Britain, in the United States, and elsewhere, have been tricked into thinking that we are each other's enemies, that we are each other's problem, that we that your neighbour two doors down who flies a flag you don't like is the great obstacle to your visions of the world."

These theories are discussed by Giridharadas on his podcast, The Epstein Elite.

‘Your neighbours are not your biggest problem’

Giridharadas says the unsealing of some of the Epstein Files should serve as a wake-up call for people everywhere to seek more solidarity in tackling suppression by these elites, and seeking leaders who will bring more unity than division.

"Your neighbours are not your biggest problem," he says.

"Your uncle you no longer speak to over Brexit or Trump is not your biggest problem.

"Your biggest problem, the people who are most responsible for you not feeling the progress you aspire to, for you not feeling confident that your children will have a better future than you did, is a group of people who are all in cahoots with each other, who all behave as though they are on the same team."

This, he adds, is a lesson we can take from Epstein and the rich, powerful people who supported, enabled and engaged in his crimes.

"Maybe it's time some of us down here in the regular world started acting like we are on the same team," he adds.

"Maybe it's time we started acting with some of that solidarity. There's something we can learn from these elites."

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.