I know a few people who did law and went on to work at the Hague, or for NFPs, who have done good things in the world. Not all lawyers are evil!
Australia's Smartest Kid Accepted Into Harvard
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I know a few people who did law and went on to work at the Hague, or for NFPs, who have done good things in the world. Not all lawyers are evil!
I think immigrants (or rather, the children of immigrants) do well for two reasons.
Firstly, they are more appreciative of the massive opportunity and world leading quality of life we have here in Australia. Their parents know how hard life can be, many coming from poor backgrounds (such as myself).
Number 2 is pure speculation, and might offended some, but I think there is something in it and this is the internet so here goes:
I was trying to explain the Tall Poppy Syndrome we have in Australia to an American friend, and it got me interested in it's origins. One theory is this is a hangover from the convict mindset, where anyone 'standing out' would get the whole group in trouble. This creating a situation where the group would self-correct and 'pull down' anybody individual who stands out - like the whole monkeys in the cage with the ladder, bananas and water experiment if you are familiar with it.
The whole, 'keep your head down, don't bother anyone' mentality. This theory is also backed up by the higher % of entrepreneurs in Perth, a state which has much fewer convict descendant Australians.
If true (and I could be way off here), this mindset could be an extra challenge for those who have this type of history in their family.
Now the opposite is what I love about Asian culture - it's glorious to be successful and wealthy (although for some, perhaps a little too extreme and unhealthy, as some have said things like sport and art are important. I've lived in HK where everyone was a bit too flashy for my liking - highest number of Rolls Royces per capita in a country where owning a car is more hassle than convenience, that type of thing).
Firstly, they are more appreciative of the massive opportunity and world leading quality of life we have here in Australia. Their parents know how hard life can be, many coming from poor backgrounds (such as myself).
Number 2 is pure speculation, and might offended some, but I think there is something in it and this is the internet so here goes:
I was trying to explain the Tall Poppy Syndrome we have in Australia to an American friend, and it got me interested in it's origins. One theory is this is a hangover from the convict mindset, where anyone 'standing out' would get the whole group in trouble. This creating a situation where the group would self-correct and 'pull down' anybody individual who stands out - like the whole monkeys in the cage with the ladder, bananas and water experiment if you are familiar with it.
The whole, 'keep your head down, don't bother anyone' mentality. This theory is also backed up by the higher % of entrepreneurs in Perth, a state which has much fewer convict descendant Australians.
If true (and I could be way off here), this mindset could be an extra challenge for those who have this type of history in their family.
Now the opposite is what I love about Asian culture - it's glorious to be successful and wealthy (although for some, perhaps a little too extreme and unhealthy, as some have said things like sport and art are important. I've lived in HK where everyone was a bit too flashy for my liking - highest number of Rolls Royces per capita in a country where owning a car is more hassle than convenience, that type of thing).
The majority people in Australia are not descendents of convicts. I think it's just an anti-intellectual culture overall. A lot of people had things way too easy which just breeds apathy and a lack of motivation. A lot of recent migrants, on the other hand, come from countries where there may be conflict or other instability or the same kind of economic opportunities are just not there. When they have access to it, they value it a lot more and are more determined to take advantage of it.
not evil, just a waste. here's an idea...
we all know that judgements are pretty much random anyway and your best chance at trial is 50/50. So instead of wasting the time of 2 smart lawyers we make a rule that only idiots can practice - but its a level playing field. So we put 2 idiots in a room to argue and then the judge can make a random decision from that. the 2 smart people can go off and do something useful with their lives
Oh, isn't that what already happens?
ha ha - yes you are right. the new rules must have been in for years.
My Father's Day card from my 5yo son says I sit in front of a computer and type stuff and have a big blue belly and play Lego with him when he comes home from school.
I hope that clears things up.
It all has to do with cultural factors and very little with IQ.
Education and knowledge seem to be more valued in East Asian cultures than in Australia. Virtually since I was born I’ve been taught to admire learned people. In my native country people who worked with their hands were not viewed as fitting models for kids to emulate, so when I finally came to Australia I was surprised to find that sports and tradespeople, farmers and miners here could earn very good money and be so well regarded.
This isn’t some sort of arrogance by an intellectual elite but a view widely held across all social classes, so much so that people who consider themselves uneducated would genuinely feel inferior and in need of some serious self improvement. My grand-parents for example were illiterate farm workers but they tried their damned hardest to give my dad a modicum of schooling.
I’ve always been taught that the greatest achievement in life is not to become wealthy or famous but to earn the respect of everyone I come in contact with. This is quite a confucian thing, very deeply rooted. In that environment the love of study came naturally to me. I understood simplistically that if I had to earn respect and respect was only given to educated people then I had to get educated.
I can’t remember being pressured by my parents to do well at school except for an unspoken expectation that I was going to be extremely good in my studies. Thinking back, I was pressuring myself more than anyone else!
But this is not all good. Nowadays a lot of Asian parents still hold confucian views but have lost sight of the underlying values: they merely see it as a means to enforce discipline at home and pressure their kids into some academic achievement/career they may not be suited for. I can see in my own community quite a few kids turning bad just for this reason.
Have you noticed the large number of Asian kids who excel in primary and secondary only to falter when they reach uni, or they finish uni only to hate the career they’re stuck with? Eager to please their parents who only think respectability, they find themselves with an impossible dilemma where in order to realise their dreams they have to ditch their parents’ – a very anti-confucian way to behave that shakes up the whole cultural edifice.
This is also bad in another way. Out of the army of bright Asian engineers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, accountants … that graduate every year, how many will come through and become managers, CEOs and true leaders in the wider community? You see, the cramming and repetitive memorising that was forced onto them is now of little value in the real world of business, politics and social change. Other skill types are required here: networking, advocating, selling, interacting, entrepreneurship… They fall short because their potential has been thwarted, so they resign themselves to being (very good) professionals in technical jobs that keep the wheels of their companies and medical suites turning instead of going out and changing the world around them.
But I do applaud all these amazing kids and their fantastic achievements. I just hope they (and their parents) will come to learn that academia isn’t everything.
Yes, very interesting indeed.
Not too far from what I have been thinking for quite a while, talking with parents and kids of these backgrounds from my kid's schools.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that you reported a 5/5 for those questions.
Good effort.
Not evil, but they primarily exist as an antidote for human stupidity and are fueled by greed rather than performing any real productive function for the betterment of mankind. Some would even say that being a lawyer is a nonsense job
I studied Law for 4 years at an undergraduate level. Thankfully, I never practised. Although there were a few decent people in my year, the rest were the most rapacious, venal people you could ever meet.
Wow, like real estate agents then?
Wow, like real estate agents then?
I know a bunch of normal law folk who don't earn oodles, who just go to work, do their thing, and come home. They may not be changing the world, but they're certainly not greedy people. I also know a few that do earn oodles doing dirty work (e.g. representing James Hardie) but who are pretty normal outside work. The only real douches I know are the ones that moved on from law to other things, like directors at fancy banks, or politics. Anyhow. I studied law as an undergrad too and my only thought about most of the people in my classes was that they seemed really boring. Not greedy.
ETA: great article, thanks for the link.
i know I'm old, but I wasn't there.
Based on the Aus we all live in today, I'd say they probably thought the Aborigines were a bunch of uncivilised heathens, etc, and set about imposing their own brand of life on them, set up camp and here we all are a double century later.