I think for many it would depend on what the Harvard Law grad actually did as a profession, eg—are you a corporate lawyer (class traitor) or a human rights lawyer (not class traitor).
This is consistent with my experience. But also, I think a lot of people that end up at HLS don’t think in those sort of Marxist/​socialist class terms, but rather just have a sort of strong Rawslian egalitarianism commitment.
I also think many people at HLS are hilariously unaware of their class privilege. In fact, many of them think of themselves as victims of unfair power structures vis-a-vis being students. This is how you get HLS grads advocating for their student loans to be forgiven by the federal government (this was truly a fashionable position when I was there) or generally spending their time advocating for HLS students getting better treatment. For example, there were at least two student groups [1][2] advocating for HLS students to get better financial treatment The second one explicitly focuses on how large law firms (starting salary: $180-190k) treat early-career lawyers.
But also, I think a lot of people that end up at HLS don’t think in those sort of Marxist/​socialist class terms, but rather just have a sort of strong Rawslian egalitarianism commitment.
I also think many people at HLS are hilariously unaware of their class privilege.
FWIW, I strongly agree with both of these statements for Oxbridge in the UK as well.
The latter I think is a combination of a common dynamic where most people think they are closer to the middle of the income spectrum than they are, plus a natural human tendency to focus on the areas where you are being treated poorly or unfairly over the areas where you are being treated well.
This is consistent with my experience. But also, I think a lot of people that end up at HLS don’t think in those sort of Marxist/​socialist class terms, but rather just have a sort of strong Rawslian egalitarianism commitment.
I also think many people at HLS are hilariously unaware of their class privilege. In fact, many of them think of themselves as victims of unfair power structures vis-a-vis being students. This is how you get HLS grads advocating for their student loans to be forgiven by the federal government (this was truly a fashionable position when I was there) or generally spending their time advocating for HLS students getting better treatment. For example, there were at least two student groups [1] [2] advocating for HLS students to get better financial treatment The second one explicitly focuses on how large law firms (starting salary: $180-190k) treat early-career lawyers.
FWIW, I strongly agree with both of these statements for Oxbridge in the UK as well.
The latter I think is a combination of a common dynamic where most people think they are closer to the middle of the income spectrum than they are, plus a natural human tendency to focus on the areas where you are being treated poorly or unfairly over the areas where you are being treated well.