Now in paperback: Philip K. Howard’s “Life Without Lawyers, Restoring Responsibility in America”

It’s a thoughtful book with some nice ideas. The problem is that Howard is writing under the assumption that we live in a Norman Rockwell society that can simply take note of the nuttiness, gather itself up and correct course. But we don’t. We live in James Howard Kunstler’s Bowling Alone society — jam-packed, fractured, multi-this and multi-that. People today have tattoos on their necks. They do not say “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am.” This is precisely the social dump to which lawyers flock — the angrier and more confused it is, the more business they get. Unless that changes, Howard’s lament is useless. He might try focusing instead on the root causes of this societal decline, but there are very few politically correct or watercooler-comfortable conclusions to be had there.