The Epstein Files Prove Just How Right Carol Christ Had Been, part 1 by Janet Maika’i Rudolph

We here at FAR are so honored and grateful to be the custodian of so many of Carol’s writings. Her 3-part seminal piece Patriarchy as a System of Male Dominance Created at the Intersection of the Control of Women, Private Property, and War first appeared on our site in 2013. We have committed to re-running it each year on the anniversary of her death in July. It is a piece that needs to be read over and over again until the understanding of what she writes seeps into our very bones. And even for those who already know this in our bones, it is important to articulate. We shouldn’t have needed the Epstein files to provide proof of Carol’s work. But alas . ..  it does provide it in slews.  And the fact that we needed the Epstein files for society at large to even begin discussing this proves Carol’s points of how insidious patriarchy is.  It is so ingrained into our world that it is invisible unless there is a stimulus to bring it to the forefront.  Will that be enough to make change?

For this two part post, I quote Carol from Part I of her essay (linked above – her words in italics). My commentary is based on recent events as well as the Epstein revelations. Really this is just scratching the surface and I plan to write more posts highlighting the work that Carol did on patriarchy. Here is her definition of patriarchy.

Patriarchy is a system of male dominance, rooted in the ethos of war which legitimates violence, sanctified by religious symbols, in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality, with the intent of passing property to male heirs, and in which men who are heroes of war are told to kill men, and are permitted to rape women, to seize land and treasures, to exploit resources, and to own or otherwise dominate conquered people.

Each line in this profound paragraph is important. She writes, “men dominate women through the control of female sexuality” and although she goes on to talk about one intent (property), there are clearly others. Notice she didn’t say “women’s sexuality,” she said “female” thereby acknowledging how patriarchal systems provide a permission structure to rape and exploit the sexuality of any age female, including girls. Enter Epstein and his ilk who feel it is their “god given” right to take and use what they choose. Trelawney Grenfell-Muir wrote about this phenomena about the sexual attraction that powerful men have surrounding young girls.

We see this in clear focus in the actions of Epstein and how sexual favors were used as currency to amass power and domination. It is that patriarchal obsession with young girls that made them such valuable currency for Epstein. And we can see how power and money created a loop that continued to enrich the already quite wealthy. Wealthy men doing “favors” for each other. As more money was amassed, they began to have more and more political power which gave them yet more money becoming ever more corrupt at each intersection. For current affairs I think about Zuckerberg and Meta pledging millions of dollars to political candidates supporting AI. Millions of dollars can turn elections. And you can be sure that Zuckerberg’s AI is not in service of the public good but of further enriching themselves and others of the elite class. And the monied class is now controlling a large swath of our media. If you have read or heard about the Paramount/Warner Brothers/ Netflix war. It has just been won and the winner is the administration’s billionaire pal, David Ellison who already owns CBS. If this merger goes through, it will bring CNN into the trumpesphere.

The current administartion has figured out ways to monetize anything. Trevor Milton was convicted of defrauding investors of $660 million (yes million you read that correctly). He paid a $2 million “bribe” to the administration and obtained a pardon. As part of the pardon he not only was released from prison but now he does not need to pay back any of that money [which was an original part of his sentence]. In other words, the elite all became richer, the corruption is taking place in plain sight and the people who were fleeced get nothing. We see them compiling the money and power among themselves and locking the rest of us out.

Carol writes as part of her definition of patriarchy that part of its purpose is “to otherwise dominate conquered people.”

Who are “conquered people?” Our country was founded on the backs of “conquered people.” Its foundation of wealth grew on the backs of “conquered people.” In this case the “conquered people” have been both indigenous peoples and anyone with skin not white.

Slavery is literally an economic system that uses people’s bodies as currency? Again, that goes back to the founding of this country. Patriarchy has had thousands of years to settle itself into people’s consciousness with all the ugliness of racism, misogyny and war. Hundreds of years in this country alone. Many commentators including myself have likened the tactics of ICE to Germany’s gestapo and there are too many parallels for comfort.  But there is another template for their actions, one that may be more apt and highlights the role of slave catchers in American history. This comparison may be particularly uncomfortable as it is not only race based but it rooted in our own American history. ICE agents are poorly trained per a recent whistleblower, given unimaginable government power along with serious weaponry. AND no real accountability. So we see, the round-ups, the lack of due process, the targeting of those who look different, extra-judicial execution, disappearances where people can’t be located, deliberately cruel treatment, mass incarceration.

As Carol writes this is part of the definition of patriarchy “to otherwise dominate conquered people.”

Part 2 will run on Thursday, March 5th. Next on the menu, WAR