The 'sort of' is doing a lot of work here.
> The #Epstein files reveal that a vast global conspiracy actually exists – sort of. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/07/epstein-files-global-conspiracy
So, to repeat something I've said before about conspiracies – there are only two kinds of successful conspiracies:
[contd]
1. Secret conspiracies involving only a few highly motivated and well-trained people able to keep their mouths shut and not make huge mistakes
2. Open conspiracies involving any number of people; where the goal is misdirection instead of secrecy
Conspiracy theories about large groups working in secret are uniformly bullshit, the Human Condition makes them impossible. Type (2) conspiracies can use the popular belief in such conspiracy theories as a cloak by shouting, "Look! A monkey!"
[contd]
I find that DARVO is a parsimonious explanation for most type 2 conspiracies: reactionary authoritarians instinctively "deflect, attack, reverse victim and offender", so that every accusation becomes a confession, either of what they've done or of what they'd do if they were their [own] opposition.
And there are a lot of reactionary authoritarians out there today.
> And there are a lot of reactionary authoritarians out there today.
True. But I think there are *always* a lot of them. The difference is our cultural moment allowed (or seems to them to allow, which is the same thing) them to say what they really think.
The best defense against fascism is to make certain no place can turn into a Nazi Bar. And I would argue our current moment has much to do with tolerating Nazis online.
And what we are learning here is there was a successful conspiracy involving a large number of people and with almost no security protocols involved. Moreover, most (all) of the members didn't think of it as a conspiracy or even a movement – it was just a 'thing' among the many 'things' in their lives.
Further? What we are seeing is only one corner of that conspiracy, which was vast and far reaching. And I'm fairly certain the other parts have similar Gmail-based open paper trails.
[contd]
So, not secret. Just not something we knew about. What was hidden, at least in the Epstein files case, was hidden because people didn't talk openly about sex crimes and moral depravity.
The same will be true for the other parts. Only it might be financial crimes or something else entirely. But, again, it's not actually secret and there will be few or no security protocols involved.
Finally, this is not *organized*.
[contd]
There's no one man wearing an expensive suit in a designer chair, petting a fluffy cat and calling for culture war as a way to sneak fascism in the back door.
Instead there's just a lot of people doing a lot of things and here and there are pockets of a few people deliberately using those things to achieve their own personal goals.
There are no such things as 'Grand Secret Conspiracies'. But there are quite large open conspiracies and this is what they look like.
[fin]
