The Undeserving Rich - NYTimes.com

I love how Mr. Krugman of the NY Times keeps up the pressure on our state of inequality as in this article, The Undeserving Rich - NYTimes.com , however, I would like to point out a minor fallacy in a minor example he uses to explain how the rich get away calling themselves "deserving."

Mr. Krugman says that it is because the super rich and their minions lump the not-so-rich into the "rich" category--the 0.1% that I and Mr. Krugman disdain--and this thereby makes it seem as if there are many more at the top. This is a very valid observation but he makes a point of including LAWYERS in that "dilution" phenomenon, and with that, I take issue as I do with most people with government-issued licenses. No, there is nothing wrong with licenses per se (it is only that after the issuing, they are no longer regulated except for very egregious and, oftentimes, only serendipitous discoveries.)


Now, what is it about the inclusion of lawyers that I find so objectionable? Well, vis-a-vis Mr. Krugman's attacks against the undeservedly rich, the lawyers I've met need to be included just as much as any Wall Street executive. I've never seen a lawyer sweat. If you see one, he's probably chasing ambulances. But look at how lawyers rise to the top of earners. They go through law school and pass the bar only because of their prodigious memories but if I were allowed into the bar exam with a computer, I'd pass too. So, that is not subject to reward. Now, what about the work they do on a particular case. Well, the experience I've had with lawyers is that they won't bother with your case unless it stands to make them megabucks, (some MD cuts off the wrong body part, for instance.) All other cases they will accept only if they traveled that sea before and do not have to do too much research. If you ask a lawyer to take your case in any other situation, you better have his fees upfront. BTW, have you noticed how in many class-action suits, the plaintiffs get stiffed while the lawyers laugh all the way to the bank? So, in their own way, they perpetuate economic inequality and ought not be included in Mr. Krugman's otherwise fine writing.


I know I haven't made an airtight case against lawyers but, hey, I don't want to get on their bad side, especially since judges start out no different and isn't all part of the same warm cushy club.

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