It is with some regret that I have arbitrarily decided to jack in the law course (‘module’ as they call it at my alma mater). I have never, ever deferred a single course in my entire 13 years’ history of studying. Not one. However, there is something which must be borne in mind: reason. It is unreasonable for me to study simply for studying’s sake. I admit, I am addicted to studying. I could have a much worse addiction, so on the scale of things, having an addiction to studying is not that bad (comparative degree), but it is still unreasonable, and a passion (the regular noun passio in Latin principally means ‘suffering’). I ought to be ruled by reason, not passion.
I have learnt a little, and one might say just enough, from this module, to be able to write prosaic fiction set in the early 20th century, and I am considering writing a dystopian novel set in the future, based around the way the law system in this (formerly) great nation is headed. I thought perhaps that acquiring a university education (several degrees, I might add…) might actually lead somewhere. But this is not the heyday of the Medici in Florence during the 15th-16th centuries, nor is it Elizabethan England: it’s Dark Age Britain. Naturally, the reason behind my decision to quit the course is pecuniary concerns. I earn a measly 850 bucks a month, though I work six days a week. So couple that with rent and transport (not to mention looking after little Ronulus and indeed thinking about what I should get my daughter for Christmas) I simply can’t afford to shell out 300 bucks a month just to feed an addiction to studying.
In Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (which is a great book, by the way), it is stated that a reasonable amount for a person to live on is to have two-thirds of their income as disposable. I cannot subsist on less than 50 bucks a month. I just can’t. It’s simply too much.
Never having deferred a module before, I don’t know what to expect (other than being booted off the course). There may even be some clause in my loan contract making me still liable to pay the fee. Fortunately, the very subject of my course was law, so this works to my advantage. I will make a strong case (should a trial arise against me) whereby I can use what I have learnt to my benefit. Is £1,614 plus interest good value for a book worth only £30? That’s just for starters, without even looking at statutes and case law.
I will miss the university’s databases (of course), but fortunately, I have a magnificent little library, with very many rare books. Who needs the university’s databases when you have a considerably ample book collection? I lived in Cambridge, and bought absolutely every single classics book I could find (and afford), and ordered many more than that. The law, although it’s a nice little hobby and everything, is not my academic specialism. I am a classicist at heart, and that is an area of learning I have expert knowledge in. In fact, my tutor said that she would find it difficult to study any other branch of learning. I almost typed in the tutorial ‘You would make a great classicist’ but deleted it. She has learnt her Latin, so would (probably) enjoy learning ancient Greek.
Leaving the law course will mean that I have more time to enjoy studying ancient Greek. Once I have mastered that language (which will take me a few years), I can then move on to my next ancient language. I have books on how to learn Arabic (not classical Arabic - which comes after learning modern Arabic), books on how to learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs, and even a lexicon of ancient Hebrew. I have not decided which I will learn next, after ancient Greek, but I am thinking that Aramaic (Hebrew) might be the best option. Thereby I can learn Arabic with relative ease. Egyptian hieroglyphs are… something of an acquired taste. Biblical Hebrew is more important to me, as a Christian. Were I a Muslim or a ‘pagan’ I would most certainly study either of those other two (excellent) languages. It is said that the Al’Quran is the most poetic of the Abrahamic religious texts. It is also said that Egyptian is a most magical language.
The next assignment (should you choose to accept it, as they say) is all about reflection. I reflect a lot on what I have learnt, always. Every single time I discover something I could have done better or find a primary source I may have missed, I make a note of it on the Cloud. I reflect naturally, so no formal academic reflection is necessary. I’ve come too far to change tack now. I have expert knowledge in one particular field (the subject of my master’s degree dissertation was δαίμονες id est ‘spirits’). There would be little to be gained by wasting my time on a subject which - while laudable - is actually for poor people. Criminal law is a subject for people that wish only to be extremely poor. Did you know that a newly made criminal barrister earns less than someone that cleans toilets for living? (In Dark Age Britain, at least. One cannot speak of civilised countries, where studying criminal law actually means something). So, cui bono? The government, is who. It’s a guinea pig project, this current module (first cohort). Even the tutors can’t read the students’ responses. What do you imagine the second part of the current assignment is? The rubric begins with ‘Imagine you are working for the UK government, under a Member of Parliament…’ Now tell me this is not a pet project for the government. I am not about to be just another guinea pig in a thankless and servile society, which, on the one hand pretends to be somehow ‘honourable’ and ‘civilised’, when, in actual fact, the machinery of the executive is actually engaged - for the most part - in two areas of business (both are shady). One: offshore tax havens for the super rich, and two: arms deals. All the while, the rest of us are as poor as church mice. Did you know that in France (a most excellent and indeed civilised country), commoners such as myself earn 25% more than in Britain? And that middle class earners earn 20% more than in Britain? Moreover, if you held a master’s degree in classical Latin in France, you can be damn sure, that that actually means something (unlike here, now, in Dark Age Britain).
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