MEGAN MCARDLE: When Law School Is No Longer A Safe Bet. “In other words, the safe backup is no longer safe. In this, lawyers are going through what rust belt manufacturing workers experienced in the 1970s, middle management in the 1980s, secretaries in the 1990s, and journalism in the 2000s. I once sat on a panel with a man who had worked for the Los Angeles Times for many years. He fondly recalled the day he got the job. ‘And the best part,’ he told his brother, ‘is that I never have to look for a job again.’ I think he either got laid off, or took a buyout, in the early aughts. . . . Are we living in a society in which all but the most ruthless go-getters will be economically insecure? Well, probably. But welcome to the world most people live in — and have always lived in.”