Sex scandals as lumpenised class consciousness
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2026 11:42 am
Over the years, there have been many pedophobic moral panics since the end of WW2, be it the Satanic scare (particularly those related to allegations of child sacrifice and ritual abuse), The Franklin coverup, The Finders, Pizzagate, Qanon, MeToo, every conspiracy related to the Dutroux scandal and surrounding conspiracy theories (particularly the ones centring on the ballet roses affair), British grooming gangs hysteria, and now Epstein.
Although many are pushed by leftists (in the case of Epstein nowadays) or rightists (in the case of Pizzagate), one common denominator is that all of them rose thanks to its demagogues tapping to the lower classes' resentment against the upper class in a way that one could describe its manifestation as a form of lumpenised class consciousness by the proletariat (or proletariat for short). Another common denominator is the politicised nature of these scandals and how they're often used as cudgels against political targets, be it the Satanic scare against the counterculture of the 1970s (as the American 1980s cultural zeitgeist was just a reaction to the cultural revolutions of the previous decades), the LGBTQ+ school grooming, "Franklin coverup" against the capitalist class, Pizzagate against the US Democratic Party, British "grooming gangs" against Labour and BAMEs, and now Epstein against Trump and Co..
As to why this is the case, I'm not sure although it does seem to be correlated with rapid societal changes, be it rapid industrialisation and its consequences in the 19th century, or deindustrialization and wage stagnation despite inflationary trends in modern times. Could also be for cultural reasons as well, but one thing is for sure: The third common denominator seems to be that every panic is followed later by a wave of reactionary politics becoming mainstream as well as a broader societal return to more conservative mores. The Dutroux scandal in the Benelux countries and the British grooming gang scandal are both good examples of what I'm referring to. The case of Latin America is peculiar as the Epstein hysteria there has merged with xenophobic bigotry against non-Latin sex tourists to form an amalgam of both generalised pedophobia and xenophobia, particularly against the USA and its people (commonly referred to as "gringos").
Coming back to the class analysis, it's clear that the main base for it are often the lower strata of society and they often use it less out of concern for the supposed "sex abuse" victims, and more as totems signalling their resentment and hatred against certain political targets that they blame for every ill they face, with little to no nuance. Hence why those who push these moral panics are rarely, if ever, compassionate or have any coherent position beyond supporting their own narratives. I would say that they are clearly a postwar phenomenon since in the past it was mainly the upper echelons of society who were the most invested with moral panics, as the ones predating WW2 (such as the "white slavery" panic) were often elite projects, much like any other moralist campaign then was. The closest that comes to it is the aforementioned "grooming gangs" panic, and even then it was less than a purely elite project and more of a broad inter-class identitarian project involving middle-to-upper class bourgeois neoliberal feminists (producing theory), lower-class far-right thugs (applying the praxis) and elite media empire of the Murdoch family (propagation) considering how in the 2000s the "grooming gangs" hysteria was heavily pushed by the yellow press tabloids such as the Murdoch-owned The Sun.
I should mention that Nick Fuentes and Keith Woods noted how prior to 2016, "conspiracy culture" and the broader conspiracy theory scene was left-coded as back then the left was more populist in contrast to the elitist right. As a consequence it wouldn't be until 2016 that the left became increasingly anti-conspiracy theory to the extent that any suggestion of a top-down agenda was deemed "anti-semitic", and that was back when wokeness' predecessor was in vogue, whilst the right had to rely on society's gutter elements and prole to regain power. Fast-forward to 2024, now it's the very Nick Fuentes himself who is now attacking conspiracy theorists and supporting Epstein after Trump's relations with Epstein got increasingly scrutinised and the left used it as a cudgel against MAGA who for years pushed anti-pedo conspiracy theories to smear leftists as pedophiles, and now leftists do the same but with the right as the target. Ignoring how class dynamics are shifting, it should be noted that while Nick's antics can be read as part of his shock jock persona, it ultimately comes down to self-interest: Since the side that Nick Fuentes supports is in charge of all three branches of the US federal government, therefore conspiracy theories surround the "deep state" ruling America from the shadows is counterproductive to his agenda, hence why Nick is becoming increasingly hostile against conspiracy theorists. Now that MAGA is having a fallout with conspiracists, the question is. now what?
The conspiracists will either return to the left, or avoid political partisanship altogether. But the appeal of conspiracy theories among the proletariat won't go away even as the western right has to increasingly appeal to the gutter parts of western society just as it radicalises further to the right.
Although many are pushed by leftists (in the case of Epstein nowadays) or rightists (in the case of Pizzagate), one common denominator is that all of them rose thanks to its demagogues tapping to the lower classes' resentment against the upper class in a way that one could describe its manifestation as a form of lumpenised class consciousness by the proletariat (or proletariat for short). Another common denominator is the politicised nature of these scandals and how they're often used as cudgels against political targets, be it the Satanic scare against the counterculture of the 1970s (as the American 1980s cultural zeitgeist was just a reaction to the cultural revolutions of the previous decades), the LGBTQ+ school grooming, "Franklin coverup" against the capitalist class, Pizzagate against the US Democratic Party, British "grooming gangs" against Labour and BAMEs, and now Epstein against Trump and Co..
As to why this is the case, I'm not sure although it does seem to be correlated with rapid societal changes, be it rapid industrialisation and its consequences in the 19th century, or deindustrialization and wage stagnation despite inflationary trends in modern times. Could also be for cultural reasons as well, but one thing is for sure: The third common denominator seems to be that every panic is followed later by a wave of reactionary politics becoming mainstream as well as a broader societal return to more conservative mores. The Dutroux scandal in the Benelux countries and the British grooming gang scandal are both good examples of what I'm referring to. The case of Latin America is peculiar as the Epstein hysteria there has merged with xenophobic bigotry against non-Latin sex tourists to form an amalgam of both generalised pedophobia and xenophobia, particularly against the USA and its people (commonly referred to as "gringos").
Coming back to the class analysis, it's clear that the main base for it are often the lower strata of society and they often use it less out of concern for the supposed "sex abuse" victims, and more as totems signalling their resentment and hatred against certain political targets that they blame for every ill they face, with little to no nuance. Hence why those who push these moral panics are rarely, if ever, compassionate or have any coherent position beyond supporting their own narratives. I would say that they are clearly a postwar phenomenon since in the past it was mainly the upper echelons of society who were the most invested with moral panics, as the ones predating WW2 (such as the "white slavery" panic) were often elite projects, much like any other moralist campaign then was. The closest that comes to it is the aforementioned "grooming gangs" panic, and even then it was less than a purely elite project and more of a broad inter-class identitarian project involving middle-to-upper class bourgeois neoliberal feminists (producing theory), lower-class far-right thugs (applying the praxis) and elite media empire of the Murdoch family (propagation) considering how in the 2000s the "grooming gangs" hysteria was heavily pushed by the yellow press tabloids such as the Murdoch-owned The Sun.
I should mention that Nick Fuentes and Keith Woods noted how prior to 2016, "conspiracy culture" and the broader conspiracy theory scene was left-coded as back then the left was more populist in contrast to the elitist right. As a consequence it wouldn't be until 2016 that the left became increasingly anti-conspiracy theory to the extent that any suggestion of a top-down agenda was deemed "anti-semitic", and that was back when wokeness' predecessor was in vogue, whilst the right had to rely on society's gutter elements and prole to regain power. Fast-forward to 2024, now it's the very Nick Fuentes himself who is now attacking conspiracy theorists and supporting Epstein after Trump's relations with Epstein got increasingly scrutinised and the left used it as a cudgel against MAGA who for years pushed anti-pedo conspiracy theories to smear leftists as pedophiles, and now leftists do the same but with the right as the target. Ignoring how class dynamics are shifting, it should be noted that while Nick's antics can be read as part of his shock jock persona, it ultimately comes down to self-interest: Since the side that Nick Fuentes supports is in charge of all three branches of the US federal government, therefore conspiracy theories surround the "deep state" ruling America from the shadows is counterproductive to his agenda, hence why Nick is becoming increasingly hostile against conspiracy theorists. Now that MAGA is having a fallout with conspiracists, the question is. now what?
The conspiracists will either return to the left, or avoid political partisanship altogether. But the appeal of conspiracy theories among the proletariat won't go away even as the western right has to increasingly appeal to the gutter parts of western society just as it radicalises further to the right.