It looks like Wall Street is having a little bit of trouble.

For about 8 years I’ve been warning people here and there that the real estate market was overvalued and would someday result in a massive crash.  Oddly enough my main source of info was a preacher in Times Square, who had been warning of a financial crash for years.  I’ve also read books on the subject as well by experts who were unbiased enough to tell the truth about the real estate bubble, and that the housing market was headed for a severe correction.

Anyone I told though pretty much blew me off, including a coworker of mine who purchased a $300,000 shack with a 40 year variable mortgage.  I told him it was unwise to buy then and that his house was going to lose value over the long run.

Does he listen?  Of course not.  Evidently I’m not somebody worth listening to to since A) I don’t have a girlfriend, B)  I don’t own any property, and C) I don’t have any postgraduate degrees that my opinion should matter to anyone.

How about (D) then:  I was right all along and now you money sluts are finally gonna get what’s coming to you?

Not that I’m gloating or anything. 

On a more sobering note though, I cannot understand why so many Christians particularly were so blind to this (well actually I do understand, since we’re talking about the same people who thought Todd Bentley could shoot lightning bolts of fire out of his cooties.)  The point is, we were not to follow the world’s philosophies about money because we live under different rules.  Paul once said that having food and raiment we should therefore be content.  (1 Timothy 6:8)  I have these things and more, so I never felt the need to invest or save up money to purchase property, or learning about retirement savings or whatever.  These things were all beyond my understanding anyway, so I simply left all those things for God to deal with and take care of.  Even the viability of my blog is something I’m leaving in His hands.  If I prosper, it will be because He blessed the work of my hands, and nothing else.

I’ve also susbcribed to a minimalist philosophy too.  I don’t worry about losing things then because, well, I really have nothing to lose.  After all, if you don’t have it, you can’t lose it.    If you store up your treasures in heaven, then you won’t grieve too much for the treasures you lose here.

Although, I’m pretty sure I’d get really torn up if I ever lost my iPhone.  (If I had one that is.  Hee.)

But all things considered, I’m not going to worry.  Because of God’s guidance and care, I will be debt free and in a position to handle whatever hard times lie ahead.  And not only that, but also be in a position to help others in time of need as well, just like my great uncle did.  He lived during the Great Depression, but he managed to do well for himself and prosper during those hard times, and as a result he was able to help a LOT of people.  If God blesses me likewise, I only hope that I can measure of and be the good steward that my great uncle once was.

Just so long as I’m able to keep a motorbike in the meantime. 

After going back and forth with the local law school that accepted me into their part time program, I finally made a decision.

I will not attend law school.

I knew if it was meant to be, the pieces would fall into place. Instead, my school absolutely refused to give me any leeway in granting me a schedule that wouldn’t conflict with my working hours. After conferring with my admissions counselor, the director of admissions, the assistant dean, and finally the dean himself, they flatly stated I must adhere to THEIR schedule, and I would be unable to change it should I be assigned to classes that fall within my working hours. For $25,000 a year and a debt load that will surpass more than a $100,000, this is how they’re going to treat me?

Up yours, law school.

Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t play by your rules. If I should ever attend law school sometime in this life, it will be under MY terms. The bottomline is, you’re all full of crap. You perpetuate a system that robs people of their financial freedom, commit academic fraud by doing virtually nothing to prepare your students for the real world of lawyering, and encourage the use of a grading curve that promotes back stabbing competition, as well as the false notion that students are doing well in classes when in fact they are HORRIBLE students, and are only surviving school because of their inflated grades.

Simply put: You SUCK.

I wanted to be a lawyer for charitable reasons, but I finally had to come clean and concede that I don’t really love the law enough to survive the perils of law school, and especially the legal profession itself. It does interest me at times, but it’s certainly nothing I’m passionate about. I don’t like the idea of writing dry memos and briefs all day long, and certainly not as a junior associate slave for some two bit law firm. Reading legal material is absurdly boring as well, mostly because it’s hard to digest the pompous and sometimes godawful writings of judges and attorneys who had probably failed third grade English during their adolescent years.

I also realized my debt load would severely limit my options and would make me a slave to my loans unless I somehow struck it rich with a case or won the lottery. By not attending law school, I will be completely debt free in the space of a year, and at that point I will be beholden to no one. I can probably do more good as a non-lawyer who is debt free then as a practicing attorney who is over $100,000 in debt.

However, life can be a funny old dog sometimes. While I have decided not to attend law school now, it doesn’t mean the door won’t suddenly open up later on in life. There’s a saying in Scripture where God promises His people that they would be “the head, and not the tail.” I know the time will be right for me when I can attend law school as a head beholden to no one, rather than a tail who would be at the mercy of a corrupt and perverse legal establishment.

Though I’m a bit disappointed, I do feel like a heavy burden has been lifted from my shoulders. Now I can focus on getting myself healthy again, exploring interests and hobbies that I could truly be passionate about, and of course last but not least: finding the girl of my dreams.