I'm going to say something that will probably be unpopular and will likely get downvoted, but that's okay. The truth doesn't become less true because people don't like hearing it.

I believe there is a serious possibility that child abuse and exploitation exist within some of the highest levels of American society, including among politicians and the ultra-wealthy. There are enough allegations, documented cases, associations, and circumstantial evidence surrounding various individuals and networks that I believe these matters warrant serious investigation. If evidence establishes that crimes were committed, I have no problem whatsoever with arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, regardless of how wealthy or politically powerful the people involved are.

But there is an important distinction between saying something deserves investigation and saying that something has been proven.

At this point, there is an enormous amount of speculation, conjecture, allegations, and circumstantial evidence surrounding this subject. What we do not have is sufficient publicly established evidence to definitively claim that there is some organized "pedophilic class" controlling or operating within the upper echelons of American society. People have absolutely committed horrific crimes against children. Criminal networks can and have existed. Powerful people can and have abused their positions. None of that, however, automatically proves the much broader claim.

And that's an uncomfortable distinction, but it matters. If someone has committed a crime, investigate them, charge them when the evidence supports it, put them on trial, and let the evidence be tested in court. A person's wealth, political affiliation, social connections, or position should not place them above the law. But neither should suspicion, association, or circumstantial evidence be treated as a substitute for proof beyond what the evidence can actually establish.

So I'm deliberately trying to be precise here. I am not defending anyone accused of child abuse. I am not minimizing the existence of child abuse. I am not making excuses for politicians, billionaires, conservatives, liberals, MAGA supporters, or anyone else. I condemn child abuse regardless of who commits it, and I believe anyone who commits these crimes should be prosecuted and punished under the law.

I also don't support right-wing conservatism or MAGA, but that is beside the point. Please don't twist my position into something I didn't say simply because my position doesn't fit neatly into a particular political narrative. I am saying that allegations should be investigated, credible evidence should be pursued, and proven crimes should be prosecuted. At the same time, I am not going to turn allegations and circumstantial evidence into established facts simply because they support a conclusion I already find plausible.

As for the second part of your statement, I'll give you the same answer I give everyone else: socialism is an economic system in which the means of production are socially or collectively owned, with worker ownership or control being one important form of socialist organization. It is not synonymous with social programs.

A government providing public healthcare, libraries, police, fire departments, public education, social insurance, or other services does not automatically make those programs "socialist." Governments of many different economic systems provide public programs. The fact that something benefits society does not make it socialism.

Socialism also isn't simply a philosophy about "protecting workers." Worker protection can exist under capitalism, socialism, mixed economies, and other systems. The defining question is fundamentally about ownership and control of productive assets.

You can hard disagree with whatever you want it doesn't make it any less true.