’ve tried to come up with words to describe how I can want to influence society for the better, while also harboring serious distain for people in any type of collective. The best way I have been able to start explaining myself is by laying some groundwork:- I believe in the environment.
- I trust the market.
- I don’t believe in society.
So go ahead and call me a Hobbesian and a pessimist, but what I’m saying is that in every conceptualization of “ideal” scenarios that I can think of, people mess it up. Let’s talk Communism for a minute—on paper it can’t be beat. Any sociology major today will tell you that once you've read the manifesto, the idea actually has some merit; people sharing ideas, capital, commons, workload, hierarchical advancements (or lack thereof)—what could possibly go wrong? Where it fails is the intrinsic necessity to involve a human element. The equation is never linear in goals and the concept of power play is not going away.
If I can take it one step further (and one step more controversial), I would venture to say that religion, especially the historical monopoly of Catholicism and Christianity, has been ideologically flawed by human influence. Religious texts are great and all, and I obviously see the logic in writing something as meaningful as spiritual and religious truths* down to share with others, but my problem stems from the possible agendas that each of the dozens of writers could have had (reads: very likely had). The Koran, Bible, teachings of Buddha, and even Greek mythology (which to someone, at some point, was recognized wholly as truth too) all have the same tragic flaw: people. Okay, now I’ve offended you. But will you think about what I’m saying before dismissing the main point? I’m not saying communism and religion are on the same playing field, but I am pointing one big finger at the problem-child of all great ideals: US.
Now, what is this you’re saying about the environment? To get back on topic, I decided a long time ago that if I was going to invest my life into something, it would be for an indisputable greater good and thus, an environmentalist was born. But how, then, does one remove society from the environment? The straight answer is that you don’t. You can’t.
So I devised what I thought was the perfect plan. Here is my abbreviated logic: society is regulated by the law, the law changes slowly based on the market (comprised of societal supply and demand, if you will), the market self regulates (even if it takes a whole lot of time and stupidity: ladies and gentlemen, I give you the housing bubble), and thus: if I am to change the law, I must play by the market’s rules. Who controls the market? Which, of course, is really asking: Who controls the capital, clout, and influence? This is a gimme: Corporations, Multi-nationals, Big Business.
So I set out, hell bent at 17 years old to prove that by using conventional methods of achievement—getting a BS, going to law school, and weaseling my way into some in-house council position of a large multi-national—I could force the stare decisis of the courts to slowly work in favor of environmental protection by showing it’s merits to said multi-national. Am I so crazy to think that I could win a game and not believe in the rules at the same time? In short: yes.
But why won’t this work? My persuasion skills aside, the law market has shifted to a business model over the past 5 years, and I dare say it is an industry in crisis. In what I have been describing as a blended mix of the pharmaceutical gridlock and the housing market inflation, the might and capital of biglaw today is troubled indeed: coping with blocks in sharing information and firm structure, and the rapidly climbing price of service. When did it become okay to charge $800 an hour to proof read? I’m sure top newspaper editors everywhere are choking on the coffee they had to get themselves at that one. But that’s the reality of this industry and it’s startling.
Fast forward a few years, I am humbled, cynical, and have graduated early, pre-law degree in hand. But the burning question: What Now? I have a great job that I enjoy, loving friends to adventure with, and new continents and cultures to explore—but what do I want to be? How will I continue to chase my dreams in reforming the staggering pull of major corporations in making governmental, legal, and societal change?
My newest venture: corporate responsibility and sustainability. It’s a simple enough plan, but in order to get there I will need to jump through a few more hoops, follow up on a few more passions, and ultimately obtain some important pieces of paper telling big business that I know what I’m telling them I know (i.e. it’s time to play by the rules again). I’m looking at masters programs for Environmental Management/Science at big name schools like Yale, Harvard, Oxford, Duke, and Princeton (look, another system that has changed to a business model…another talk for another day). I might be bold and naïve enough to pull this off in a few years—pending the master’s education market doesn’t take a turn for the bizarre and overly corrective, like the law school market has. (*I believe in the market, I believe in the market*).
Just what changes I’d like to make in the global theater of rising sea levels, industrial farming, environmental pollutants, and anthropological impact, you will have to wait and see.
Until next time,
J
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