
Jeffrey Epstein infiltrated science because it was ready to accommodate him - mikece
https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20870858/jeffrey-epstein-science-philanthropy-donation-prestige-mit
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scohesc
Now, I don't know all of the story behind this situation - so pardon me if I
come off as ignorant.

Why would anybody give a single damn about where the money is coming from if
it's helping achieve a goal that could benefit scientific advancement? There's
too much income inequality, funding problems, etc. etc. causing problems all
over the US to simply ignore the amount of money that could potentially
benefit people around the world depending on the discoveries that could be
made.

Now, I'm not saying that the things Epstein did weren't absolutely morally and
ethically bankrupt. Why can't the people/companies receiving the money simply
make a public statement "we are taking this money for the greater good because
we know it will help us achieve 'X', we do not, cannot, and will never support
Epstein in any way other than accepting donations".

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sp332
That's not really what happened at MIT. He got personal letters of thanks from
the president and was invited to hang around the AI lab. The article gets into
this at the bottom, about reputation laundering. Epstein gets to call himself
a tech donor, hangs out in cool places, starts to look like a nice,
respectable guy while he's still carrying out his freaky eugenics project.

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misterprime
>freaky eugenics project

I thought I was up to speed on Epstein, but this is news to me.

~~~
sp332
Not sure exactly how widely known this was but Epstein started telling people
about it in the early 2000's according to
[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-
epstein-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-epstein-
eugenics.html) Seems like he brought it up to investors and scientists for at
least 5 years.

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opwieurposiu
The world is not black and white. It is possible for a bad guy to do some good
things and a good guy to do some bad things.

If money from a bad dude gets used for a good cause like science, I don't
really have a problem with that.

~~~
msghacq
He got things for that money though. Epstein got to visit the MIT campus, with
women in tow. Students were forced to make him a replica of the Disobedience
Prize orb. He specifically cited scientists and tech people to intimidate his
victims and persuade the police to leave him alone.

You have to look at the other side of the relationship when someone donates.
It's not just about taking the money, the person giving it is getting
something in return and that's not always a good thing. In Epstein's case, it
was tragic.

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traderjane
Jeffrey Epstein also met with presidents and other top level elites. Talking
with academics is the expression of his power and not the source. Otherwise
academics is the doorway into the social circle of presidents and other power
elites, which is really dubious, like you’d have to punch above Richard
Feynman to convert academic prestige into power.

Being metaphorical Richard Stallman doesn’t give you access to party with
presidents.

