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BullshitAndEgomania 3 - 09 Feb 2010 - Main.AerinMiller
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| | In class, I asked what “freedom” looks like. I am still concerned about the implications of the freedom advertised in this course. Particularly, I am worried that this “freedom” merely replaces one scheme of ego-gratification for another.
If we reject all external sources of meaning as bullshit (and we may have good reason to do so), and refuse to care at all what anyone thinks, then this is freedom, on Professor Moglen’s view. The validity and attractiveness of this position are best addressed elsewhere, but the application and consequences of this view are my concern here. This kind of freedom replaces external means of self-validation for internal means of self-validation; this is potentially problematic. If the source of our values and self worth is exclusively internal, this creates a troubling solipsistic perspective through which one engineers whatever reality is most satisfying to the ego. Which is to say, rejecting the law school/corporate rat-race “bullshit” does not free you from ego needs- it’s just a cleverer way of feeling superior. I think Robinson is a very clear example of how this devolves into egomania-- or, at the very least, insufferable self-aggrandizement. | | | The next time I got arrested was not cute and fun like the first time. Despite the unpleasantness, I do like to boast about my record (yes, this is partly an ego trip), so I will probably write about that too some other time.
NB: if you are going to get arrested, don’t drink a lot of water beforehand, because you might be lucky enough to get released before having to use the toilet. Bring nothing more than your driver’s license in your pocket. Anything else such as a wallet they will confiscate and you will have trouble getting it back. Also, do not wear shoelaces, a belt, long underwear, or anything else you could use to hang yourself/garrot someone else, because they will take those things too. | |
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> | @Alison
I agree that we need to get over external means of self-validation. I agree that we need to get over ourselves, at least to the degree that those selves are being shaped externally (see: the fear, anxiety discussions). But I don’t think that satisfying the ego is necessarily such a bad thing. Guidance by internal sources of value is not the same thing as guidance by greed (and greed alone, morality free), which was evidently the man in the NY Times article’s only motivation.
In truth, I have trouble understanding how personal interests (I would say ego but that word leaves a bad taste) play so little a part in this (larger class) discussion about choices and freedom. In the end, isn’t loving your job a large part of doing your job well? We can talk in endless circles about pawning licenses and making choices. But he who is interested in human rights will make a great human rights lawyer, and he who finds corporate crime a puzzle should probably be defending white-collar criminals.
I come from an industry (movies, TV) of the self select who tend to be myopic about everything except the content of their jobs. The majority knows that the industry is a gamble, that its successes are as random as they are well-deserved and that but for sheer pluck any given member will be on a plane back to his or her hometown. This goes for the baby writers and it goes for the directors who have a decade under the belt. Entertainment is a resourceful and cooperative climate (extending, again, about as far as the end of the soundstage), which happens to be extremely good at producing decent products and generally content workers. Everyone just really wants to be there.
There is not too much overlap between that world, and ours. There is an army of unhappy lawyers. A family member of mine has literally made a career out of counseling paralyzed mid-career lawyers about what to do next. I can only think that the majority of these people are unhappy because they don’t like what they do, meaning, literally, the day-to-day content.
The critical step out of law school is into a field of interest. This is the only way to work effectively in the long term. This is the only way changes can be wrought to a deeply flawed system by the lawyers working within it. To be a good lawyer is to be happy about being a lawyer, and the only way to do that is to like your work.
So I agree that we need to close our ears to all the bullshit humming around us. But the internal bullshit might be useful. Because I have yet to meet a television writer praying for the opportunity to change careers.
-- AerinMiller - 09 Feb 2010 |
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