Say Hello to "Hand of the Devil"
June 15, 2010
A friend of mine has a blog that I don't read - because I only now know he had a blog. And thus one soon realizes the challenges of blogging: What if you have a site that no one knows about? Do you crap-flood your friends' e-mail boxes with blogging announcements? Not if you want to remain friends.
Another problem is humility. Most people with something interesting to say often remain silent out of fear. A person with rational self-awareness realizes that whatever he produces will be flawed. And that even what is good will be largely ignored. "Why would anyone read it?"
Blogging is like applying for a job or meeting a mate: Even if you're qualified, most are going to reject you. Some employers don't have enough work for an associate. In this law market - saturated with unqualified lawyers making big promises, and clients without the money to hire qualified lawyers - many firms are teetering on bankruptcy. In life, 90% of people are going to reject us. Sometimes it's our fault, but often rejection is the product of circumstances.
Anyhow, I've added a new blog to my rotation. "Devil's Advocate" is written by Connecticut lawyer Kevin Smith. I'd read it even if he weren't a friend.
The blog is written about being plugged into the Criminal Justice Matrix. Any decent person who begins a criminal practice is going to have "system errors."
Granted, even experienced criminal defense lawyers realize the system is lunacy. Yet even idealistic-but-older lawyers will experience habituation. Spend a few years watching oppression, and you forget that you're watching oppression.
It's thus enjoyable to be see a thoughtful-but-not-yet-jaded person write about an insane world. Check it out.