For decades, American political and cultural leaders have leaned heavily on the narrative of U.S. exceptionalism, framing the nation as a global beacon of equal justice, unrivaled opportunity, and moral leadership. This rhetoric permeates everything from diplomatic addresses to everyday domestic discourse, with officials and private citizens alike routinely highlighting the country’s supposed commitment to fairness as a core part of its national identity. But the long and sordid saga of Jeffrey Epstein blows a gaping hole in that carefully constructed narrative, laying bare deep systemic flaws that allow wealthy and connected predators to evade accountability for grievous crimes.
Epstein, a disgraced financier who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, spent decades building a network of underage girls and young women he exploited for sexual abuse, often trafficking them to powerful men across elite circles in politics, law, and higher education. Even before his death, credible rumors of his misconduct circulated for years, yet no serious legal action was taken to stop him for decades. This immunity was not accidental: it was the product of deliberate protection from the influential figures who benefited from his crimes, and a legal system that has long bent to the will of the ultra-wealthy.
Critically, the injustice of the Epstein case extends beyond the financier’s own death, which robbed his dozens of victims of the chance to see him convicted in a court of law. In recent months, new revelations have added fresh outrage to the scandal: Epstein’s long-time partner has claimed that more than 20 other people with direct knowledge of his trafficking ring were granted immunity from prosecution through secret government-approved settlements. As one journalist noted, Epstein leveraged his elite social connections to build an impenetrable protective barrier, one that granted him social credibility and kept law enforcement at bay for decades. There is no sugarcoating the reality: systemic roadblocks were deliberately put in place to let Epstein live a life of unimpeded privilege, even as he inflicted irreversible harm on hundreds of young victims.
While a small number of high-profile figures are now facing consequences for their ties to Epstein, the case lays bare a much wider rot in American society. Too often, the country’s wealthiest and most powerful elite have carved out a separate set of rules for themselves, far removed from the equal justice that ordinary Americans are promised. They justify their excessive, often depraved lifestyles with the claim that they earned their wealth, and operate with little to no accountability to the public. And all too often, the U.S. legal system enables this separation, allowing money to buy protection from scrutiny and consequences that ordinary people could never access.
That said, the contrast between Epstein’s corruption and the choices of other extremely wealthy American leaders makes clear that wealth does not have to lead to greed or abuse. Consider Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest men with an estimated net worth of $151 billion. Over the last 20 years alone, Buffett has donated roughly $60 billion to charitable causes, and has publicly committed to giving away more than 99% of his total wealth during his lifetime and after his death. In explaining his choice, Buffett noted that excessive material possessions often end up owning their owner, and that his most valuable asset outside of health is his network of diverse, long-standing relationships. Buffett is not a perfect man — no person is — but his choice to use his wealth for collective good stands as a powerful rebuke to the idea that wealth must lead to selfishness or exploitation.
This same commitment to honor and service is seen in the legacy of Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president who died in December 2024. Tributes to Carter overwhelmingly focused on his identity as a dedicated humanitarian, who rejected the lavish trappings of power and wealth that come with his status, and instead used his platform to improve public health and safety in vulnerable communities around the world. Just as with Buffett, Carter’s legacy will be one of service, not self-dealing.
The contrast between these two worlds — the predatory impunity of Epstein and the selfless service of leaders like Carter and Buffett — raises a critical question for American media and society. If the public and press prioritized celebrating the good works of honorable, generous leaders instead of fixating on the scandals of powerful predators, the national conversation would be far healthier, and the true face of American leadership would be far clearer. The Epstein case is not just a story of one man’s depravity: it is a warning about the cost of systemic inequity, and a reminder that exceptionalism must be earned through equal justice for all, not just claimed as a birthright.
This opinion piece is written by Anthony Moretti, an associate professor in the Communication and Organizational Leadership Department at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, U.S. The views expressed do not necessarily represent the official stances of China Daily or Robert Morris University.