I’m a lawyer who works for the government, & gets served the koolaid every now & then. I pour it in the flowerpot when no one is looking, or give it to the cat.
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the ABA. At first it was because I was a poor government lawyer, & couldn’t afford it. Later, despite remaining a government lawyer, I wasn’t so poor, but I found that the ABA had gone left wing, while I was going right wing. They lost me totally when they began supporting abortion.
When I turned 55, I somehow wound up in the AARP. I’m not sure that I actually paid anything to join. When my 5 year membership expired, I didn’t re-up, because I learned in those 5 years that the AARP is just another collectivist gimme gimme organization. I miss the discounts, but not much.
It’s actually pretty easy for me not to belong to things, because I’m not a joiner. INTP, y’know. And as I age into curmudgeonry, I am less & less inclined to be a member of anything. I’ve certainly had it with the party formerly known as the Republicans, who will never get another penny from me.
I do send a fair chunk of change – a little over a grand a year – to the Army Aviation Association of America, because my father was a member, and they gave me a small scholarship when I went off to college. I wouldn’t mind being a member of that outfit, if I had the qualifications, which, regretfully, I never earned.
And yes, I contribute to the Boy Scouts now & then.
