I define followers by rank. Which is to say that in my lexicon followers have less power, authority and influence than leaders. And sometimes they have no power, authority or influence at all.
The victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s by now all too well known predation were then, as I define them, followers. For many years that’s all they were. Bereft of any resources they were where the wind blew them. But in the last 24 hours this changed. Summoning their courage in tandem they put their foot down. They are insisting they will stay silent no longer. They are taking control of a narrative that for decades had controlled them.
If they succeed in shifting America’s political dynamic even some would that transform this band of followers into leaders? Yes. But this will not now or ever diminish their origin story. For a very long time they were followers who had nothing and no one.