Posted by
Andrews on Sunday, June 01, 2008 5:54:21 PM
Speaking as a law school drop-out, I have to ask, why do we trust lawyers so much? Oh, we all make lawyer jokes, and claim we don't trust them, but then we turn around and vote them into office in overwhelming numbers, and, more than that, we give them almost total control over our lives. Why do we think lawyers are especially adept at determining health care policy? We must, otherwise why let them establish "health care policy" or "universal health care"? Why do we think they understand every industry? How else to explain the infinite number of regulations we entrust to alwyers?
Oh, there are a few non-lawyers in office, but by and large, congress is made up of wealthy lawyers. (And we wonder why tort reform is a dead issue.) Maybe a few ex-military types, but even they are former military men who then attended law school. We just cannot get away from lawyers in congress.
Now, this would be fine if congress' primary function were just making laws. And by that I mean simple criminal alws, and the few administrative laws needed to keep the federal civil courts running. But we have long since passed the era where the government let people run things on their own. With our massive, intrusive federal government, the state regulates every industry, every area of human endeavor. Which makes me ask again, why do we think lawyers are up to this task?
Not that I would feel that much better if the man telling me what I can eat were a chef, or a plumber, but I have to ask why law school qualifies someone to tell others whether or not they can use transfats or how to design automobiles. I went to law school, many people I know completed law school, and I wouldn't trust them to feed my cat when I went on vacation, much less manage the nation's economy.
So, I ask again, why do we trust lawyers so much?