Why we write
By 
I usually avoid writing about my personal life, but lately I’ve found myself compelled to do so by various circumstances, such as the lawsuit I filed and eventually settled with the law school that employs me. That lawsuit was at bottom a product of the fact that I’ve published a great deal of criticism of the economics of higher education in general and law schools in particular, among the 5,491 posts I’ve published at LGM (along with about 500 others at Inside the Law School Scam, a few of which were cross-posted here).
In one sense I’ve paid a considerable professional price for writing what I’ve written here (hence the lawsuit), and I expect to continue to do so, given the kind of people who are drawn these days to university and law school upper administration.
In another, however, I’ve gotten an enormous benefit, which is that I wouldn’t be surprised if those 5,491 posts have collectively produced more audience engagement with my writing than everything else I’ve ever published. Which is nice, but on yet a third hand, I get no professional credit (quite the opposite) for this writing, even though in theory it’s the kind of thing that ought to count for the 20% of faculty evaluation that is supposed to be made up of “service,” to the broader community, not just academia.
I’ve been doing this for 16 years, and I would like to do it for many more, but it’s challenging to continue to do it for what we’re paid to do it. That’s just a fact, hence today’s fundraiser. So I hope this place is still here, and that I’m still part of it, in 2040, when Joe Biden is going to be, if my calculations are correct on this score, 16 years older than he is today, and Donald Trump will be long dead, if there’s any justice to go along with all the lawyers and guns and money.