poor lawyers

[mata]

The Alchemist who turned lead into gold

Long ago in the country of Outland there was a tiny village named Trope. In a small hovel at the edge of the village, lived an old Alchemist, who was working busily on his quest to turn lead into gold. It would have been any typical summer day in Trope except for one thing. On this day, the Alchemist had a stroke of luck, which would change the lives of everyone in Trope for ever.

A smile slowly proceeded across the Alchemist's crumpled face as he slowly poured the last ingredient into the vat of molten metal, lovingly stirring the concoction with a long heavy ladle. "Perfect" he said to himself as he began pouring the thick mixture from the ladle into the molds. "I've done it! I have finally discovered the secret of turning lead into gold. I shall become the wealthiest man to ever live".

Over the years while he obsessively worked on his project to turn lead into gold, the old Alchemist had experienced much trial and error; he used this time to construct a most cunning plan. He had day dreamed for many years of what he would do, if only he could turn lead into gold.

In those days, gold was used for ornamental purposes, for things such as bracelets and earrings. With this in mind, the old Alchemist reasoned to himself, that after he had produced a significant quantity of gold, one day everyone in Outland would have all the gold they could ever want. He deduced that if that day were to ever arrive, the desire for gold would diminish and its value fade away. This worried him immensely, for his ultimate fear was for gold to become as common as the lead from which it was made.

The Alchemist thought to himself, "I must keep my secret recipe in my head and never reveal it to any other person, and I must manufacture my gold in limited quantities only, that it may always be desirable." The medieval chemist, being a greedy man, was not happy with limiting the amount of gold, he could create. "I must discover a new use for my gold that will make it desirable to everyone, no matter how much I produce. I know there must be a way." he thought to himself. "There must be a way."

One day a brilliant idea burst into his head. "That's it!" His grin blossoming into an exuberant smile, revealing the total absence of teeth. "I shall make my gold into little round ingots, and I will call them coyens." This in Outlandish means token. "Then I will loan my coyens to the villagers for use as munee." This means wage in Outlandish. "I will convince the villagers to use my gold coyens as munee for their trade. My gold will then be in constant demand, no matter how much I produce. I will indeed become wealthy beyond belief!"

"But what is this munee?" The Baker asked gruffly, as he suspiciously eyed the Alchemist, his head thoughtfully cocked to one side while contemplated this strange new concept. The Baker was known to be the wisest man in the village. With that in mind, the Alchemist needed the Baker's support for his new plan, or had little hope the villagers would ever accept it. The sensible Baker though, was having quite a difficult time comprehending this new idea. His village had always used the bartering system of trade. If a villager needed bread, he would work for the Baker, or he would make a trade using an item that was desired by the Baker, such as wheat, or perhaps candlesticks in return for bread. All trade was a matter of negotiating a swap that was acceptable to both parties.

"Munee works like magic." Whispered the wide eyed Alchemist, as he moved closer. "It allows you to trade coyens for merchandise, instead of trading your wares for their wares, or working directly for the person who possesses the Item you need. As a matter of fact, you can work for anyone you wish, and then you can take the munee you've earned and trade it for the things you want. Because my gold is so valuable, one coyen is adequate compensation for an entire day's work. It will be gladly accepted by all"

"Hmmm" Said the baker. "I must admit, this is a very intriguing concept. If munee becomes acceptable to the villagers in the place of their current barter, it would indeed revolutionize our village and make life much more convenient. Please, tell me more."

The Alchemist continued. "Instead of exchanging your bread for the items you want, sell your bread for gold coyen, then you will have munee, to buy what ever you need."

"But how will the villagers get hold of the gold coyens needed to buy my bread?" Asked the Baker.

The alchemist smiled. "The laborers you employ, in your bakery, will get their coins from you, just like the laborers that work in the candlestick factory, will get their coins from the candlestick maker, one for each day they work, eventually all in the village will have plenty of munee to buy bread."

"But where will I get the money to pay my workers?" Asked the Baker, slowly raising his voice, as if he thought the Alchemist was having trouble hearing him.

"You will get your money from the villagers when they come to buy your bread." The baker was indeed puzzled for even though he could see brilliance in the plan he was still somewhat confused, and he had learned from past experience, not to trust the Alchemist.

"It does make since to me how I could use munee to pay my workers, and they in turn, could then use it to buy what they need, either from the butcher, or from the candlestick maker, or from the carpenter, or perhaps even purchase bread from my Bakery, and when they do buy my bread, I will have enough munee to pay my workers, and to buy whatever else I may need for myself. There is, however, an important element that you have not yet explained. How do you intend to distribute these coins into circulation among the villagers, so that this new munee system of trade can be established? Do you suppose to sell them to us? I am afraid, Alchemist, we cannot afford to purchase your gold coyens, you know that we are a poor village. Is this scheme of yours to help you sell your gold?"

Here lied the beauty of the alchemist's carefully planned money system. The Alchemist recognized that barter trade was a simple two party transaction mutually beneficial to both parties. With the new munee system, the Alchemist intended to turn the old two party barter system into a three party transaction between the buyer, seller and himself who would continue to create and own all the munee.

"Don't worry." Replied the Alchemist, "I will handle the distribution of coyens. All I ask is that you take my coyens for your bread, when offered. When you have enough of them, begin paying your workers, one coyen per day." The Baker reluctantly agreed to go along with the new munee, as did the Candlestick Maker, and every other merchant in town. The Village Council also agreed, for they knew that the munee system would only work if they all participated, besides, they longed for the day a more convenient system would come along. After all there where times when, under the barter system, a person would be in need of an item, but had nothing desirable for trade, and working for the person was not always practical. The new munee system promised a solution to this problem.

The Alchemist scurried back to his shop and began making his gold. When he had prepared a goodly amount, he posted a sign in a prominent location in front of his shop. "Get your munee here" said the sign in bold lettering. The sign caused quite a stir amongst the curious villagers. Soon a crowd began to gather. The butcher approached the Alchemist and asked, "What must I do to acquire some of your coyens, so that I may try out munee for myself?" "I shall loan it to you in any quantity you desire." The Alchemist replied cheerfully. "I only ask that you return the munee after an agreed upon period of time. I also require a small amount in addition to what you barrow, as just compensation for my trouble"

This seemed reasonable to the butcher for he believed the Alchemist was doing a great deed for the village. "I am curious about one thing though." Said the butcher. "From where will I acquire the additional munee that I shall need to pay your compensation?

"It's simply a matter of honing your abilities as a business man." The alchemist said slyly. "You must determine the correct price to charge for your meat. To do that, you must first decide how much it costs to buy the livestock and to prepare your cuts of meat, then figure in the additional amount required to meet the needs of your family, which will be your profit, and lastly, include a small amount to compensate me for the use of my money. Consider all of these expenses to determine the necessary price to charge for each cut. If you are wise in your pricing, then you will have all the money you need to make a good living, pay back your loan, and also pay for the interest. You will find success, and all the munee you desire from the munee that already exists in circulation, once everyone begins to use my new money system."

The Butcher warmly agreed to the terms of the Alchemist, and was first to take out a loan. Soon many of the villagers were coming to the Alchemist to take out their own loans, though the wary Alchemist would not loan his munee to just anyone. He was careful to make loans only to those who possessed some wealth of their own, for use as collateral, mostly the village businessmen. He knew they would be more likely to make good on their payment and even if they did not, he could always go about seizing their assets. No one in the village could deny him his moral right to be compensated for his valuable munee.

[mata]

At first the new system worked fabulously. The villagers began using munee exclusively for their trade. Within a short time, the Alchemist became wealthy beyond belief. The Alchemist however, was not alone in his gain; some of the villagers were very good at using the new munee system, and also became wealthy. They seemed to possess a better grasp of the intricacies of munee, and used it to their advantage. Before long many where overcome by their own greed, and began to conspire with each other along with the Alchemist and several members of the village council, to manipulate prices and wages, and to conduct all kinds of secretive business dealings.

To the other extreme, there where many villagers who managed their munee quite poorly, and soon found themselves in the unpleasant position of not having enough munee to pay back their loans. When this happened the Alchemist did not miss the opportunity to take possession of their property and businesses in return for their nonpayment, forcing the bankrupt villagers to look toward those successful businessmen for employment. Many villagers who suffered losses from this new munee system became angry, but the Alchemist had the support of the Village Council and all of the wealthy business men, who stood by ready to buy up the businesses acquired by the Alchemist, at discount prices. More and more of the villagers worked for these wealthy businessmen and feared loosing their jobs, so they kept their feelings to themselves, even though they where slowly feeling the squeeze. The new business owners began to reduce wages and raise prices in order to increase their profits, and to pay the Alchemist for the use of his munee. Things began to change in the tiny village of Trope. Where as before, people were neighborly and helpful, now everyone was either out for their own selfish gain, or had little money left over to help the needy, even though they desired to. The new wealthy villagers continued to increase, while everyone else seemed to have less and less.

As it turned out, one of the village businessmen having trouble making his loan payments was the Baker, mainly because he refused to raise the price for his bread. One day the Alchemist decided it was high time to pay the Baker a visit, and collect for his outstanding loan.

"Can you not see, Alchemist, that I am a busy man? Said the Baker. I do not have the money to pay you at this time; you will receive due payment, when I have the munee."

"You are a simple fool." Said the Alchemist sternly. "Why don't you raise the price of your bread, so that you are able make your loan payment?"

"I will not." The indignant Baker chortled. "The people of this village can scarcely afford to pay a higher price for bread." The Alchemist prideful of his wealth and embolden by his new found status in the community demanded payment at once or he would seize the bakery. The Baker was honest and simple, but also sensible. He well understood the trickery of the Alchemist and grasped the nuances of the new munee system better then anyone else in the village of Trope.

"I am finished with your money Alchemist." The Baker replied angrily. "I intend to return to barter."

"You cannot return to barter. You must continue to use munee in order to pay your loan. You have no choice in this matter." The Alchemist shot back.

"You cannot control my life Alchemist, I am a free man. I will do as I wish. I want nothing more to do with your evil munee." declared the Baker. "Tonight I will call a town meeting, and we will discuss this new money business, we shall let the villagers decide for themselves whether or not they wish to continue with this munee system." "As you wish." The Alchemist said, as he turned abruptly and marched out of the bakery, for he had no fear of the villagers rejecting his munee, they where hooked, and he knew it. The Alchemist was sure of his cunning, along with his newly found power among the village wealthy. He considered the commoners to be naive, and figured they would not be capable of understanding such a complicated system as munee. Besides the convenience was obvious to everyone. They were simple people, used to simple barter. The Alchemist knew it would be of little challenge, for him to fool them again.

The Baker went immediately to the Village Crier, and asked him to spread the word. "All are invited to the village gathering that shall be held tonight, in the village square, concerning the new munee system." "Everyone will surely come to the gathering." Replied the village Crier to the Baker. "For there was much curiosity and tittle-tattle as to what was to become of the new munee system.

A noticeable air of excitement was among the villagers, as the Baker stepped up to the podium, and began to pound the heavy wooden gavel. The low rumble of the crowd quickly fading off into silence. "This village gathering is now in session" announced the Baker. "I wish to open this gathering by explaining to you, the villagers, and to the honorable village council, if I may be so bold, the process by which our new system of munee operates."

"As you all well know" Began the Baker, "In return for your work, you are paid munee. What is important to remember about this transaction, is that the munee you work for, and the coyens you receive in compensation, is the direct representation of the labor you've expended. These tokens of your labor can then be used to buy what ever you may wish. This is the important point I wish to make, it is your labor that gives munee its value. Money is simply labor in a tangible form."

"I know for a fact, through my conversations with many of you, that you have mistakenly perceived the value of munee to be derived from the gold of which the coyens are made. Although you are correct in assessing a value to the gold coins, based on the intrinsic value of the gold from which they are made, this intrinsic value alone does not make them munee. Gold will always have a value of its own no matter what form it may take, as does rubies and diamonds, but intrinsic value is not the same as munee value."

"There is only one element by which a legitimate monetary value is derived and qualifies a substance as munee. That element is common to each and every one of us, and our self-ownership of it identifies us as free individuals. This is the common element of labor. If we were slaves, we would not be in the position to make such a claim. We however are free men, and the hallmark of individual freedom is self-ownership of labor."

"Munee is the vehicle by which the fruits of our labor channel through the economy, as we pursue the pleasures of life. We are free to spend our labor where ever we please. When you work for a day you receive a day's wage, one gold coyen. The gold coyen you receive is the tangible incarnation of the work you've performed. When you take that coyen and spend it, for the things you desire, you are simply spending your labor. Munee is not authentic unless, and until, work has been performed."

"The fact is, our money is made out of gold and yes, the coyens do carry with them, the intrinsic value of the gold from which they are made. The gold value however, is secondary to the monetary value, derived from expended labor, this secondary value becomes little more then a distraction from the essential element, and complicates the system. Labor is the only ingredient that defines a substance as munee. By creating this dual value, the unscrupulous Alchemist has invented a powerful tool of manipulation, to control our munee, and thereby, our labor."

"Who do you think is the culprit behind the increased prices of late? By receiving a cut of every transaction made in the form of interest payments, the Alchemist benefits handsomely from these high prices.

This inconspicuous culprit can also control the value of our labor, by merely controlling the number of coyens in circulation. It is the Alchemist, who in essence, steals our labor and gradually turns us all into his willing slaves." The Baker stated emphatically to the crowd that had become increasingly restlessness.

The Alchemist was startled and amazed at the perception of the Baker, for even he himself, had considered the value of his coyens, to be derived only from the intrinsic value of the gold, from which they were made. He had not thought much about the element of labor, but only of the value of gold. He believed that gold was the factor that made his coyens desirable to the villagers, and therefore, acceptable as munee. In the beginning his concern was with the overproduction of gold, and the eventual devaluation that would result. He deduced that if he where to loan the gold into circulation, instead of selling it, he could always recall it, by not issuing any more loans. In this way he would always be able to control its quantity. He never concerned himself with the fact that it was labor itself, which lent a special value to the coyens. "Could it be that labor is actually the true Essence of munee?" The Alchemist thought to himself.

The Baker continued. "It seems to me this is a good system of convenience, and is beneficial to us all; to now go back to barter would be a step backwards indeed." The Alchemist began to smile. "There is no evil in munee so long as the substance, creation and distribution of it are benevolent to the laborer." Said the Baker.

[mata]

Let's begin with its creation. The current method of money creation has become a burden upon our village. Before, when we had the barter system, a trade was normally made between two persons. Now every transaction is between three, the buyer, the seller and the Alchemist. Labor is the ability to create, and as I have already stated, munee represents expended labor, so when we, the creators of our own labor work, we naturally create munee, which is wealth! so why are we allowing the Alchemist to create our munee out of nothing but lead? This gives the Alchemist alone the power to control how much munee is in the system. He is the sole creator of all of our munee. This my friends is a perverse system. If he should take the notion, he could easily overproduce his gold coyens, until they are so plentiful, that they become worth very little, and when the coyens loose their value, your labor has likewise, lost its value. Instead of pegging the value of the coins to the value of our labor, which represents the true nature and value of munee, the Alchemist instead, by using reverse logic, pegs the value of our labor to the intrinsic value of the his coins, which he alone can easily manipulate.

In an opposing scenario, the Alchemist could reduce the money supply by refusing to give out new loans, and by recalling old ones. When this is the cased, those that are tight with their money, and pay as little as possible to their workers, will have accumulated more than those that are generous and free spending with their money. The businessmen who were able to establish a savings can easily pay their loans, however a few of the village businessmen, who carry a narrow profit margin, and have little saved, will inevitably not have enough to pay back their loans. The situation is exacerbated because no new loans are being processed, less munee is now available in circulation because old loans are, at the same time, being steadily paid back, thus continuously retiring more and more money out of the economy. Eventually something has to give.

As we have already seen, when these things happen, the Alchemist assumes the right to confiscate the property of the delinquent businessmen, for nonpayment." The Baker continued. "This is a very corrupt and evil system, for the labor and property of our entire village falls under the indirect control and manipulation of the Alchemist."

There is also the question of distributing munee into circulation. The Alchemist controls distribution of all munee into circulation through debt. He owns all the money in the system. He has only loaned it to us. This is another burden upon our village. I know most of you believe that when you are paid, the money you earn belongs to you. If this is what you believe, then you are badly deceived. Munee is passed into circulation through loans. All munee is owed to the Alchemist, and every coyen must someday be paid back, plus interest. If you default on these payments, he has the right to legally confiscate your property.

"The Alchemist is a gouger", came a distant voice from the audience, the crowd reacted in a concurring surge of angry explicits.

The Alchemist, fearing the wrath of the villagers, stood up hastily, while waving his arms in a downward motion, attempting to quite the increasingly restless crowd. "I would like to reply to the Baker." said the Alchemist as angry boos rang out from the villagers. "First I would like to reassure the Baker that, I have no intention of seizing the Bakery."

"Here, here," said the Butcher, as the wealthy businessmen began to cheer the goodwill gesture of the Alchemist, as an attempt to stifle the boos.

The Alchemist continued, "As you all know, I started this money system as a goodwill gesture toward our village community, and for no other reason. I only ask a tiny profit for myself, in return for the money that I loan. It is just compensation for this great service, which I am providing. Is it my fault that some of our businessmen insist on carelessly handling their money? I must recover my losses. In some cases, I have no choice but to take away their property. Let me remind you, I do not do this sort of thing out of pleasure, or in the pursuit of wealth, but only because I could not long remain in business, if I gave my money away. To be sure, there is no more efficient way to put money into circulation, then by the method which we have adopted, which has served many of us so well. You must admit, it has literally revolutionized our trade. The village needs my munee, and that means they also need me, because only I am able to change lead into gold.

The Baker stood to reply. "You say you are not in pursuit of wealth, yet you are by far the wealthiest man in the community. We must work for our money, yet you can make as much as you please, out of nothing but lead. You are the most powerful man in the village. You have seized three businesses already, and sold them to a small group of wealthy men, who stand behind you and support your every desire. These wealthy men employ everyone in the community. Who dares to cross them? Their relationship to you is mutually beneficial. The desire and the will of the villagers mean nothing to them. Where it not for the high caliber of most of the leaders on our village council, your gold would have served to purchase their influence long ago. It is only a matter of time before your own men will be setting on the Village Council, then who will be able restrain your will? We all shall be answering to your demands."

The Alchemist became enraged. "I do not have to stand for this." He shouted. "I have done many great things for this community, and even if some of you do not appreciate it, there are many others that do. You need me, and you require my gold to make this convenient munee system work.

[mata]

The wise old baker looked knowingly at the Alchemist. "I know your secrets." He said in a slow monotone voice. "You see, if we are to be fare with this system of munee, then we need to examine a few things more closely. As I have already pointed out, when we work, we are paid munee for that work. The munee takes on the value of our expended labor, making it portable. It is then used to buy what we need. So if the real value behind munee is labor, it does not then matter what substance it is made from, any sturdy material will suffice. The coyens will simply be the bearers of our expended labor, labor made tangible if you will. It would be far better for us, if our munee was made from a substance that had little, or no intrinsic value of its own, so that it may be taken freely for the value of labor only. A pure munee, liberated from the perplexities congenital to duel value munee systems."

"We do not need your gold for our munee." Said the Baker. "Those that control the value of gold control the value of labor. We shall cut wooden plugs and assign them with numbers, and use them as our munee, and they will work just the same as your gold. When a man works a day for me, I will give him a wooden coyen instead of a gold coyen. When he buys my bread, he will pay with a wooden coyen, instead of a gold coyen, and I will take that wooden coyen and buy what ever I please, and all the villagers will take the wooden coyens, just as they did the gold ones, then we will have little desire for your gold. It will be the responsibility of the Village Council, to make the wooden coins for our village. They will go into circulation at the time work is performed, and then they will have the value of labor behind them. The workers will be the first to take the newly created munee and spend it amongst the village proprietors. The people will finally have money of their own, and it will no longer be owned and created by the Alchemist. The village council will tax the excess coyens back out of the system, so that the supply remains constant. The most important principle to remember is that munee can never officially come into existence, until labor is first performed, and then the value thereof will be imparted into the coyens. Trade will once again become a two party transaction, and no one will be able to control our labor by manipulating our munee."

"It will never work! You are foolish to use wood coins as money!" the Alchemist laughingly exclaimed. "That's the silliest thing I have ever heard!"

"Is it?" Asked the Baker. "I say we should put it to a vote of the villagers." The Village Council agreed, and a vote was taken immediately. The well spoken discernment of the Baker helped a great many of the villagers to understand the concept of munee, even though some were still doubtful, their were enough willing to try the Bakers new plan. The abuses of the Alchemist being fresh in their minds, that the vote easily passed. The Village Council declared that, from that moment on, the only authorized substance to be used for munee, would be the wooden coyens.

The angry Alchemist stomped back to his shop exclaiming, "You'll come crawling back to me in a month, begging me for my coins!" "Our village will be the laughing stock of Outland!"

Thankfully, the Baker understood that munee and labor are one in the same, and saw that it was only logical for munee to originate at the point in the process, where labor is performed. Munee created by the labor of the people, would be worthy to spend throughout the village. It would not be legitimate, equitable or natural to create and distribute money at any other point in the process. He knew that if the creation and distribution of munee was to be just, it must follow labor. Any system that allows the value of labor to be manipulated by a third party, such as commodity munee surely does, should be vigorously rejected by the people. The new munee had no commodity value. If it was not for the labor that was backing it, it would indeed be worthless pieces of wood, but since the creation of money now coincides with the labor of the workers, who then spend it into circulation, they always know the value of their munee because it is the value of their labor, and it belongs only to them.

So the council began making wooden coyens, numbering them, and placing a special stamp upon each of them, making them difficult to copy. The coins however, did not become official money, until they where first worked for. At the end of the day the village workers would come to the village square and pick up their days wages. They could then spend them at the various shops in the village. Soon munee was plentiful and the village council began using a sales tax to withdrawal a certain quantity of munee, back out of circulation, so that the amount in circulation always remained constant. This was easily done, since they already knew exactly how many where made, they likewise knew how much should be taken back out of circulation, in order to maintain the desired amount, at all times. This gave the new munee a constant value, and it became a very stable system. The villagers where so happy with their new munee system, that they elected the Baker to be the first mayor of Trope.

The bitter alchemist was exceedingly distraught over these events, and swore no one would ever know the secret of turning gold into lead. His spirit broken, he died a few years later, taking his secret to the grave with him.

The new village Alchemist, after analyzing the gold coyens, made out of lead by the old alchemist, discovered that his gold was actually a yellow colored lead alloy, closely resembling gold. Only an expert Alchemist could tell the difference. When this was revealed to the village people, they realized that during the entire time they thought they were using gold as their munee, they where actually using worthless lead. The fact that it nevertheless had value to them as munee, further reinforced the Bakers theory, that the only authentic value behind munee, is the value of labor, even if the substance chosen to be used as munee, has it`s own intrinsic value, such as gold certainly would. Gold was commodity value, but labor is monetary value.

The villagers loved their munee and it was freely taken for exchange by all, even neighboring villages. The prosperity of Trope was unsurpassed throughout all of Outland.


The Well Hidden Truth

A quaint story of an obscure primitive village existing long before our times? Could this unsophisticated money system possibly have anything in common with our modern technical society? Believe it or not, this allegory represents all of the basic elements of our modern money. Of course we do not use gold, but gold is usually the only solution offered as the logical recourse for the current system, while all fingers point damningly at our fiat currency (money that does not have a value of its own). As you can see such a solution is bogus disinformation designed to mislead those that question the system. All are careful never to mention the true value of money, which is labor. Yes we do have a fiat money system, but the creation and distribution of our fiat money is corrupt, and works just the same as the gold coins in the preceding allegory. Just as the gold coins were created and loaned out by the alchemist, our money is created and loaned into circulation by the Federal Reserve, as if it already had value. The truth is, this money is worthless just as the wooden coins where worthless until after they were worked for. Because the powers that be have convinced us that our fiat money somehow has a magical value of its own (just because they say it does) and they alone have acquired the power to create and distribute it, they can easily manipulate its value. The village council represents our Federal Government, which has become corrupt, bought and paid for by those that control our money. The group of wealthy business men represents our monopoly corporations, that work hand and glove with our corrupt government and the money masters. And the Baker represents what could happen if the word ever got out to enough people regarding the esoteric secrets of money, and how it is used as a tool to steal our labor, and make us all into their willing slaves.

[payola]

Very intriguing, mata, thanx for posting it!

[tor]

Erapitt, money is like a big male private part. The fact that they\'ll give you some is not going to make you love \'em.

I am not sure what exactly do you mean -- that just because you have a lot of fun when engaging in sex with someone who has a big male private part you won\'t necessarily love that person, or that it\'s because that person cannot possibly insert his male private part fully into one\'s hole that the level of sexual fulfillment won\'t be as great as to guarantee loving that person ??

[bobbykurva]

You all suck.

[Bob D]

Nonetheless, I don't think that the current system could possibly exist if people really are putting in way more money in tuition and opportunity costs than the JD is worth; not for this long, something would give.

People keep returning to the Las Vegas casinos even though they always lose. Ditto for state lotteries.

Read about the favorite-longshot bias: http://favourite-longshot-bias.behaviouralfinance.net/

[inertia]

Wow, a very interesting and enlightening thread!

[grassroute]

Yes. Many lawyers make less than a good construction worker, a firefighter, or a garbage collector for that matter. The difference between the two, however, is that the latter don't have student loans to pay back.