The Dance between Capitalism and Democracy

On May 21, 2026, the “Epstein Truth Panel” is set to meet on June 1^st in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (per the New Mexican, a local Santa Fe newspaper) The article names the individuals on the panel and said they will meet at the State Capitol. This panel will begin an investigation into the Zorro Ranch owned by Jeffrey Epstein.

“Sarah Kellen, a former assistant to Jeffrey Epstein, testified in a closed-door congressional hearing on Thursday, alleging years of abuse at Zorro Ranch in New Mexico and implicating both Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. He groomed me, sexually and psychologically abused me, controlled me, manipulated me, dominated me, and gaslit me, until I could no longer tell which thoughts were mine, and which were his,” Kellen said, according to a copy of her testimony obtained by ABC News. (Published in KOAT, May 22, 2026, written by Aliyah Chavez)

If you listen to the explosive Jeffrey Epstein interview tapes recorded by Michael Wolff for his upcoming book, “Epstein described himself as Donald Trump’s ‘closest friend’ and claimed intimate knowledge of his proclivity for sex. . .” (The Daily Beast, written by Hugh Dougherty) These tapes tell the Epstein’s version of the perverted relationship between two men and former friends. Epstein’s leaked address book had Trump’s private phone number, and his plane passenger logs included Trump several times. And Epstein described Donald Trump as “a man without a decent cell in his entire body.” (Wikipedia)

The importance of the Trump-Epstein relationship is that it reveals – without a shadow of doubt – that our president is morally corrupt, unscrupulous, and depraved. His own court cases prove this point as well: (1) he was convicted of 34 felony charges in his attempt to coverup his relationship with a prostitute, and (2) his Jean E. Carroll case proved he sexually attacked a woman in a department store dressing room.

Someone who is morally corrupt is also venal – open to bribery or overly motivated by personal gain. The CLC (Campaign Legal Center) “has published a tracking resource analyzing the most egregious cases where President Donald Trump’s administration has corruptly provided major donors and supporters — including ultra-wealthy individuals, corporations and special interests — with official benefits, including Cabinet and executive branch positions, ambassadorships, pardons and commutations, dropped investigations or enforcement actions, corporate-friendly policies and perks, and even foreign policy actions.” You can download their research at: https://campaignlegal.org/document/tracking-trump-administrations-most-corrupt-transactions.

The CLC states, “A defining feature of the Trump administration is that those who pay get to play. Trump’s corrupt transactions raise major concerns not only about the abuse and exploitation of elected office for personal and political gain, but also about the unprecedented power of wealthy special interests to steer the federal government in ways that best serve their goals — at the expense of everyday Americans’ interests and, more fundamentally, Americans’ trust in their democracy.” (Ibid)

The political struggle in the U.S. is not merely between Democrats and Republicans; it is a deeper conflict between capitalism and democracy. Capitalism concentrates power in the hands of wealth, while democracy is built on the principle of political equality. Their aims are fundamentally at odds with each other, driving a persistent clash between economic inequality and equal civic rights. Thomas Jefferson’s declaration that “all men are created equal,” a foundational ideal of America, stands in glaring contradiction to the fact that he owned more than 600 enslaved people.

This dance between democracy and capitalism has now turned into an internal conflict that could even erupt into a revolution. Most Republicans are fundamentally capitalist, while Democrats appear to focus on meeting human needs and maximizing equality.

Developed in the late 19^th century and based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “dialectical materialism is a philosophy of life” – a conflict that Russia used to create their version of communism. Today, Vladimir Putin, a ruthless and brutal dictator, adheres to the Karl Marx philosophy. Since assuming his rule over Russia, this man has used “money” to gain control of mafia groups worldwide and converted their activities into a global organized crime organization – which he too benefits. Putin’s Palace is an ostentation, a flashy estate just five kilometers from Moscow. (Picture from Radio Free Europe) This area is known as the “Beverly Hills of Moscow.”

Donald Trump on the other hand, lives at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. (Photo courtesy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Jason Hickel wrote a Substack message he called “Why Capitalism is Fundamentally Undemocratic.” He wrote: “Yes, many of us live in democratic political systems, where we get to elect national leaders every few years, even if we acknowledge that this process is often corrupt and inadequate. But when it comes to the economy, the system of production – which affects our everyday lives and determines the shape and direction of our society – generally not even a pretense of democracy is allowed to enter. Under capitalism, production is controlled overwhelmingly by capital: the big financial firms, the large corporations, and the 1% who own most investible assets. They are the ones who determine what to produce, how to use our collective labor and our planet’s resources, and what to do with the surplus we generate. As far as capital is concerned, the purpose of production and surplus reinvestment is not to meet human needs, achieve social progress, or to realize democratically ratified objectives. The purpose is to maximize and accumulate profit and power. “

The people – you and I – who are doing the production – do not get to decide anything. The leader makes all the decisions for the population, and if the leader is morally corrupt, then their decisions are not what is best for the people but what is best for himself.

This is the political model that currently operates in Russia and the exact same model that Donald Trump is trying to create in the United States.