What The H*ll IS Wrong With People???

[k5083]

When we are ruled by lawyers, elect them to positions of power up to and including sitting in the White House, we are all victims. Victims of a ruling elite who wave their banner of superior intelligence and keep us at bay for fear of litigation. Common sense seems to have been legislated and litigated out of our fabric as a nation a long time ago. So sad to see.

I wonder if we will ever see the day that there old, yellowing and crumbling piece of paper called the Constitution is ever adhered to again. Ya know, the part about a governemnt of, by and for the people?

Thanks for chiming in on lawyers. Always good to have another informed lawyer-basher on the forum.

I am surprised you are so fond of that crumbling Constitution, what with it having been written mostly by lawyers (34 out of 55 framers). I assume you have no good feelings at all for the Declaration of Independence, written entirely by a lawyer, Thomas Jefferson. Nor, besides Jefferson, for the likes of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and other lawyers who have been fair-to-middlin' Presidents, to say nothing of most of the nation's legislators since the very beginning.

Indeed, I wonder that you like the United States of America at all, because it really was the first nation largely set up and run by lawyers from the outset, and this is directly linked to most of the reasons why most Americans consider it such a great system, whether they know it or not.

That's a far better track record than, say, military men, to whom I sometimes think some residents of this forum would like to turn over the country. Every government ever set up and run by military or ex-military personnel has been tyrannical.

Not that every lawyer is Abe Lincoln by any means, but perhaps we ought to be a tad more sophisticated in whom we blame for the state of our country than tagging just one occupation, hmm? Perhaps even ourselves, the voters?

August

[CAPFlyer]

I agree August that it's a bit unfair to paint all lawyers with the same brush, but I think the profession has only itself to blame for the reputation it's gotten. If the profession did a better job of maintaining its ethical integrity (i.e. punishing lawyers for repeatedly attempting to bring frivilous lawsuits to trial or those whom charge rediculous fees or do things like take the majority of an award that just barely covers the actual losses of a plaintiff) and being more proactive in the upholding of the laws that exist instead of trying to create new law via legal precedence, there wouldn't be as many people angry at the profession as a whole.

[k5083]

CAPFlyer, I fully agree, except that creating new law through precedent is part of the foundation of our common-law system. As to the rest of the stuff you said, and many more forms of misconduct that I could name, I have occasion to be ashamed of members of the profession far more often than I would like. Though not responsible for the major ills of our society, lawyers do frequently deserve some amount of contempt.

August

[CAPFlyer]

The problem is August that the US is not a common law system. The only persons who can create law are the legislative branch of the respective level of government, not the judicial or executive. That's where part of the problem is. The constitution of the US and its many states lay out ENUMERATED powers, not unlimited nor exemplary, and enumerate the legislative with the power to create law, the executive to approve and uphold it, and the judicial to vet it and apply it.

[6trn4brn]

Hi August,

As I have stated many times on this site, I am but a humble, non-educated, middle-class American who does love his country, but has very little use for our current government. Thank you for the history lesson on how many lawyers were involved with the forming of the Constitution and The Declaration of Independence. I did not know that.

Taking into account that I am just another uneducated, working class dog, I guess I see things a bit more simplistic than you do. When I see the classic case of a legal system gone horribly wrong when a plaintiff is granted damages from spilling hot coffee on themselves or a wealthy person set free from murder charges due to his being able to afford an all-star legal defense team, I see that as wrong. Yes, very simplistic of me, but I was raised to think that we should all treat each other the way we want to be treated.

I was in a horrific car crash several years ago, have slipped and fell a couple of times at various places of employment and recently had been let go from a place of employment due to my not being able to get along with the plant manager. Each one of these incidents could easily have led to lawsuits, but due to my simple way of seeing things, I have no desire whatsoever to litigate or whatever the term is.

You sound as though you have a much better understanding of the public opinion of the legal system in general and for that I want to say thank you. It is rare indeed that a lawyer will admit that our legal system is in such a shamble. I hope that you can see that I mean no disrespect towards you and would probably even seek you out as my attorney if you were close to the land of confusion that I currently live

Let me also admit that I know I am getting myself into a world of hurt trying to debate the legal system with someone much better informed than I. For that reason alone, I will go back and hide under my rock before I am stomped on by the big elephant foot