Loyalty Among Friends

It seems to me that the older I get, the less I can trust my friends. I don't mean acquaintances or social friends either; I feel like it becomes harder to open your entire life to your closest friends. My guess is that as we grow older and mature, our personal agendas can oftentimes overshadow the needs of those around us. I can see it in myself; the selfless boy who would trek through the midnight streets of Berkeley to deliver a bottle of Nyquil to a sick friend is not likely to make that trek anymore for his friends. Why? Is it because I have become less charitable? Maybe my heart has gone cold. Maybe law school makes us all colder.

A psychologist by the name of Lawrence Kohlberg created a system of moral development. The system is ordered by stages, 1-6, with each ascending stage more morally developed. Apparently high school students are easily associated with stage 3, they tend to support each other with little consideration given to society. Sort of like "I got your back no matter what." Stage 6 would indicate a person's moral reasoning is conducted through the lens of universal ethical principles. I was introduced to this theory in my Lawyering Skills class, and it's something that fascinates me. I wonder where I rank in Kohlberg's scheme?

I saw American Gangster this weekend and it was a thoroughly thrilling and captivating movie. Despite its two and a half hour runtime, I was engrossed in the movie from the opening credits. I actually found myself rooting for the drug lord- was it just appreciation for Denzel Washington's acting or did I actually want to see his character prevail? The movie paints such an organic picture of New York and New Jersey in the 70's that I can hardly believe it's a movie. I don't know what it would have been like to live in New York back then, but it has to be worlds apart from my daily existence.

Mind has gone dry... I'll have to wait for more inspiration to hit before I post again I guess.