To the editor:
In the article ‘A Better Way to Teach Law’, Mr. Andersson makes a good case for the value of getting people into the workforce sooner, I also think he makes a very relevant comparison between an engineering degree and getting a law degree, as neither one, as can be shown with near infinite examples, has any consistently material change on the constitution of a person; meaning, course titles aside, both degrees have near infinite amounts of empirical evidence that they neither impact a person’s prioritization of, nor imbue an increased understanding of, Integrity, Honesty, Truth, or what is Just.
This doesn’t mean there is any deficiency that deviates from the norm in people with these degrees, it only means, in the case of a law degree, that if, like engineering, coursework was just moved into the undergraduate major, one might at most have to require some additional credits for its attainment. And what would be lost by this? Talk to 100 lawyers about law, for 30 minutes each, and then try to guess what their undergraduate degree is in. Exactly, and exactly Mr. Andersson’s point I believe. No need for more waste when already playing survival of the wittiest. Any person of seniority in any profession with even the slightest hint of sense knows that graduates start learning their trade when they start working.
Abject failure, tyranny, woeful ignorance, and injustice – the four footprints of sophism – is the only reason this horrible idea improves the current state. It’s also the root cause of every problem written about in the articles posted here. For how much of the darkness snuffing out the light of Humanity is made up of high school dropouts? No, I’m sorry it’s true, but not sorry to say, the silver tongued ignoramuses that plague you, Humanity, and all that is Right, were credentialed, empowered, and puffed-up, by every institute of learning the world over. And how could it be otherwise, since these same institutions taught society to devalue the uncredentialed Human and to stop all skepticism based on the titles before, or the abbreviations after a name. Norman Douglas, I believe, has had more than a few choice words for the practice that got us here (see endnote). As has Plato.
Why do we not need law schools? The answer was clear in the last sentence of first paragraph. Or read a different way, the last sentence of the first paragraph tells of the dire need we have for law schools of a different kind. Choose the latter, and the day will come when I find a judge running for office who upon handing me their pamphlet can answer the question, “What is the difference between ending Iniquity and achieving Equality? And why is only one of them guaranteed to be Just?”. Until then, this undegreed author will continue to be met with confused looks followed by the ego preserving classification of being a weirdo, and most likely, a science and law denier to boot. Certainly someone to ignore.
endnote: Douglas, Norman ‘How About Europe?’ (British Edition) ‘Goodbye To Western Culture’ (American Edition). Pub 1930 (search text for ‘education’).
Nick Staff,
New York. NY
