Law in Contemporary Society

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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 10 - 19 Apr 2020 - Main.WhitneyLee
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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 9 - 13 Jun 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 8 - 13 Jun 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 7 - 05 Jun 2016 - Main.EbenMoglen
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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 6 - 19 Apr 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 5 - 09 Mar 2016 - Main.EbenMoglen
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WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 4 - 24 Feb 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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META TOPICPARENT name="FirstEssay"
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

On Debt and the Illusion of Free Will

-- By WhitneyLee - 18 Feb 2016

The desire to attain social status and to repay debt leads law students to trap themselves in meaningless careers.

Social status is important in societies such as ours that are stratified along class lines and so, for many, the possibility of one day being admitted into the upper echelon of society is incredibly tantalizing. Law students, who are already by and large a risk-averse group, tend to believe that the best way to climb the social ladder is to follow the “proven path” to success: attending a prestigious law school, then trading a few years of their lives after law working at a white-shoe firm in a large legal market in exchange for some added clout. I don’t think that most lawyers realize that the extent to their conformity, but I think that to the extent that people do recognize the ways that they conform, they justify it to themselves by believing that because conformity has always worked for them in the past, it will work for them in the future. In a way, it is as if law students and young lawyers try desperately to set themselves apart from the pack by doing the same thing that everyone else is doing. From what I have seen so far, many Columbia students are very comfortable making this trade off… but it seems ridiculous in a way, as people are trading their time, the most precious thing that any of us have, doing something that they are not passionate about, just so that they can gain the requisite credentials to impress other people trapped in the same system – and people become very attached to the images of themselves that are created this way. Egos inflate, and people get used to the comfort that a high-paying firm job affords them. I believe that it’s usually not until much later in life that people in this position look around and notice that they have not really contributed to the world in any meaningful way, that all of the time and energy that they could have spent bettering the world was spent collecting accolades, and material possessions… and I think that the realization that their lives lack meaning is maybe part of the reason why lawyers develop drinking problems, and end up wrapping their cars around telephone poles.

So I think that the most important question is, assuming that some of us accept the idea that chasing after social standing and conforming at every step along the way is detrimental in the long run how do we change? (Robinson) Also, what do we do with the limitations that restrict our ability to change? (ie. Family obligations, & debts)

First, on the debt point, I’m beginning to believe that the debt (law school debt from student loans) is perhaps an instrument used by law schools to force our hands.

The debt creates fear and also puts students in the position where they are beholden to the school. Then the school (used in this sense to mean all top law schools), rather indelicately, guides students towards careers in Big Law, reinforced subtlety by the firm branding all over the law school (i.e. The Skadden Stairs, the Weil conference room, etc.) and the events sponsored by large corporate law firms. In time students not only begin to think of a career in Big Law as a good way to pay back the debt, but the only way to pay back the debt – and although it seems sort of perverse, many students feel a sense of gratitude to the school for leading them to the “correct” path. I think that this is what is meant by the illusion of free will. Everyone believes that they are acting autonomously, but in reality the school has been herding everyone, like sheep, into the Big Law pen since Day One.

But for those of us who want to change, what are we supposed to do?

Debt is real. Family responsibilities are real. Although I don’t have a complete answer to this, I think that the answer is, in part, about presence and absence. On presence, I think that if we are in serious debt or we have family obligations that require a sizeable Big Law salary, we have to do what we have to do in that regard. We should show up and do the best that we can. As for absence, I think that while we are “showing up and doing the best that we can” we should not lose sight of our purpose, if we know what our purposes are, or alternatively, we should not close our eyes to the opportunities around us to change our circumstances and actually do something worthwhile. Essentially, we should try to not get trapped by the comfort and the money and in the process miss out on opportunities to break free of the machine and do something different.

I think that presence and absence have to be balanced. I am not certain but perhaps this is part of what Prof. Moglen was getting at when he spoke about Robert Frost and the white spider (“Design” by Robert Frost). Too much presence, say if Frost was focused on whatever task he was supposed to be doing in that moment, he would have never noticed the spider; he would have missed an opportunity to create. But with too much absence, he would have not had the wherewithal to actually put pencil to paper and make a note of the experience. If we have too much absence, we wont actually get anything done, but if we have too much presence we will feel stuck. We will feel like we do not have options. Too much presence and we will close your minds to everything outside of the situation we're in, we’ll lose perspective… and perspective is key for lawyers and for anyone hoping to do anything meaningful in this life.


You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list.


WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 3 - 20 Feb 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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META TOPICPARENT name="FirstEssay"
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

On Debt and the Illusion of Free Will

-- By WhitneyLee - 18 Feb 2016

The desire to attain social status and to repay debt leads law students to trap themselves in meaningless careers.

Social status is important in societies such as ours that are stratified along class lines and so, for many, the possibility of one day being admitted into the upper echelon of society is incredibly tantalizing. Law students, who are already by and large a risk-averse group, tend to believe that the best way to climb the social ladder is to follow the “proven path” to success: attending a prestigious law school, then trading a few years of their lives after law working at a white-shoe firm in a large legal market in exchange for some added clout. I don’t think that most lawyers realize that the extent to their conformity, but I think that to the extent that people do recognize the ways that they conform, they justify it to themselves by believing that because conformity has always worked for them in the past, it will work for them in the future. In a way, it is as if law students and young lawyers try desperately to set themselves apart from the pack by doing the same thing that everyone else is doing. From what I have seen so far, many Columbia students are very comfortable making this trade off… but it seems ridiculous in a way, as people are trading their time, the most precious thing that any of us have, doing something that they are not passionate about, just so that they can gain the requisite credentials to impress other people trapped in the same system – and people become very attached to the images of themselves that are created this way. Egos inflate, and people get used to the comfort that a high-paying firm job affords them. I believe that it’s usually not until much later in life that people in this position look around and notice that they have not really contributed to the world in any meaningful way, that all of the time and energy that they could have spent bettering the world was spent collecting accolades, and material possessions… and I think that the realization that their lives lack meaning is maybe part of the reason why lawyers develop drinking problems, and end up wrapping their cars around telephone poles.

So I think that the most important question is, assuming that some of us accept the idea that chasing after social standing and conforming at every step along the way is detrimental in the long run how do we change? (Robinson) Also, what do we do with the limitations that restrict our ability to change? (ie. Family obligations, & debts)

First, on the debt point, I’m beginning to believe that the debt (law school debt from student loans) is perhaps an instrument used by law schools to force our hands.

The debt creates fear and also puts students in the position where they are beholden to the school. Then the school (used in this sense to mean all top law schools), rather indelicately, guides students towards careers in Big Law, reinforced subtlety by the firm branding all over the law school (i.e. The Skadden Stairs, the Weil conference room, etc.) and the events sponsored by large corporate law firms. In time students not only begin to think of a career in Big Law as a good way to pay back the debt, but the only way to pay back the debt – and although it seems sort of perverse, many students feel a sense of gratitude to the school for leading them to the “correct” path. I think that this is what is meant by the illusion of free will. Everyone believes that they are acting autonomously, but in reality the school has been herding everyone, like sheep, into the Big Law pen since Day One.

But for those of us who want to change, what are we supposed to do?

Debt is real. Family responsibilities are real. Although I don’t have a complete answer to this, I think that the answer is, in part, about presence and absence. On presence, I think that if we are in serious debt or we have family obligations that require a sizeable Big Law salary, we have to do what we have to do in that regard. We should show up and do the best that we can. As for absence, I think that while we are “showing up and doing the best that we can” we should not lose sight of our purpose, if we know what our purposes are, or alternatively, we should not close our eyes to the opportunities around us to change our circumstances and actually do something worthwhile. Essentially, we should try to not get trapped by the comfort and the money and in the process miss out on opportunities to break free of the machine and do something different.

I think that presence and absence have to be balanced. I am not certain but perhaps this is part of what Prof. Moglen was getting at when he spoke about Robert Frost and the white spider (“Design” by Robert Frost). Too much presence, say if Frost was focused on whatever task he was supposed to be doing in that moment, he would have never noticed the spider; he would have missed an opportunity to create. But with too much absence, he would have not had the wherewithal to actually put pencil to paper and make a note of the experience. If we have too much absence, we wont actually get anything done, but if we have too much presence we will feel stuck. We will feel like we do not have options. Too much presence and we will close your minds to everything outside of the situation we're in, we’ll lose perspective… and perspective is key for lawyers and for anyone hoping to do anything meaningful in this life.


You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list.


WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 2 - 20 Feb 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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Revision 2 is unreadable
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META TOPICPARENT name="FirstEssay"
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

On Social Capital

-- By WhitneyLee - 18 Feb 2016

How The Quest for Prestige & Social Standing Drives Law Students to Make Decisions That Work Against Our Longterm Well-Being

The function of conformity in relation to social standing (& the false evidence that past conformity presents in suggesting the possibility for future success)(Why communism and socialism scare most Americans - the idea that the state could act as an equalizing force in whole or in part by treating citizens equally)

Assuming that we accept the idea that chasing after social standing and conforming at every step along the way is detrimental in the long run, and ultimately not a guaranteed way to success, how do we change? (Robinson)

What do we do with the limitations that restrict our ability to change? (ie. Family obligations, & Debts that sort of force our hands - I assume this is by design, not just Columbia's design, but all law schools, b/c once you're in debt, they think they have trapped you)

Presence (Doing what you have to do -- don't shirk your responsibilities. Show up.)

Absence (Don't lost sight of your purpose -- if you know your purpose, and don't close your eyes to the opportunities around you to change, by this I mean changing yourself or changing the system that you're in or even changing your circumstances) (i.e. Thurgood Marshall - doing the best you can with what you have) I think that too many people get stuck on the presence part. Too much presence and you're stuck. You feel stuck. You feel like you don't have options, and, not to put too much emphasis on feelings but feelings are what leads lawyers to develop drinking problems and to wrap their cars around telephone poles. Too much presence and you close your mind to everything outside of the situation you're in, you lose perspective and perspective is key for lawyers, actually for anyone hoping to do anything meaningful in this life. I think that you have to balance the two (presence & absence).I'm not sure but perhaps this is what Prof. Moglen was getting at when he spoke about Robert Frost and the spider. Too much presence, say if Frost was focused on whatever task he was supposed to be doing in that moment, he would have never noticed the spider; he would have missed an opportunity to create. So I suppose you have to balance the two, because with not enough presence (too much absence), he would have not had the wherewithal to actually put pencil to paper and make a note of the experience.

What now?

Subsection A

Subsection B


You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list.


WhitneyLeeFirstEssay 1 - 18 Feb 2016 - Main.WhitneyLee
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Added:
>
>
META TOPICPARENT name="FirstEssay"
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.

On Social Capital

-- By WhitneyLee - 18 Feb 2016

How The Quest for Prestige & Social Standing Drives Law Students to Make Decisions That Work Against Our Longterm Well-Being

The function of conformity in relation to social standing (& the false evidence that past conformity presents in suggesting the possibility for future success)(Why communism and socialism scare most Americans - the idea that the state could act as an equalizing force in whole or in part by treating citizens equally)

Assuming that we accept the idea that chasing after social standing and conforming at every step along the way is detrimental in the long run, and ultimately not a guaranteed way to success, how do we change? (Robinson)

What do we do with the limitations that restrict our ability to change? (ie. Family obligations, & Debts that sort of force our hands - I assume this is by design, not just Columbia's design, but all law schools, b/c once you're in debt, they think they have trapped you)

Presence (Doing what you have to do -- don't shirk your responsibilities. Show up.)

Absence (Don't lost sight of your purpose -- if you know your purpose, and don't close your eyes to the opportunities around you to change, by this I mean changing yourself or changing the system that you're in or even changing your circumstances) (i.e. Thurgood Marshall - doing the best you can with what you have) I think that too many people get stuck on the presence part. Too much presence and you're stuck. You feel stuck. You feel like you don't have options, and, not to put too much emphasis on feelings but feelings are what leads lawyers to develop drinking problems and to wrap their cars around telephone poles. Too much presence and you close your mind to everything outside of the situation you're in, you lose perspective and perspective is key for lawyers, actually for anyone hoping to do anything meaningful in this life. I think that you have to balance the two (presence & absence).I'm not sure but perhaps this is what Prof. Moglen was getting at when he spoke about Robert Frost and the spider. Too much presence, say if Frost was focused on whatever task he was supposed to be doing in that moment, he would have never noticed the spider; he would have missed an opportunity to create. So I suppose you have to balance the two, because with not enough presence (too much absence), he would have not had the wherewithal to actually put pencil to paper and make a note of the experience.

What now?

Subsection A

Subsection B


You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines:

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules for preference declarations. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of these lines. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated ALLOWTOPICVIEW list.


Revision 10r10 - 19 Apr 2020 - 04:53:55 - WhitneyLee
Revision 9r9 - 13 Jun 2016 - 20:32:08 - WhitneyLee
Revision 8r8 - 13 Jun 2016 - 17:30:48 - WhitneyLee
Revision 7r7 - 05 Jun 2016 - 12:36:07 - EbenMoglen
Revision 6r6 - 19 Apr 2016 - 03:23:26 - WhitneyLee
Revision 5r5 - 09 Mar 2016 - 18:15:58 - EbenMoglen
Revision 4r4 - 24 Feb 2016 - 19:36:00 - WhitneyLee
Revision 3r3 - 20 Feb 2016 - 02:48:01 - WhitneyLee
Revision 2r2 - 20 Feb 2016 - 01:03:03 - WhitneyLee
Revision 1r1 - 18 Feb 2016 - 09:07:22 - WhitneyLee
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