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Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become.
John Matrix
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Drive a big car own a nice house. Its no fun to be poor. If you have the means and the mental ability to do it improve your station in life.
Money does make you happy, despite what those platitudes say. They were written by poor people.
Instead of lavish spending convert your funds to help your parents and relatives who are by your account not that well off, or help other people.
Either you are getting that money and using it for good, or someone else is getting that money and using it to buy more Hummers.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Keep in mind that Michael Douglass is an asshole.
If you're comfortable with your contribution to the world, and your contribution to yourself, then go for it. If, for you (assuming you have something of a conscience) the benefits for you and society outweigh the cons for you and society (the two are rather closely intertwined) then go for it, by all means. And if you start to feel bad about having money, then donate some of it, or put it to good use through your own ideas.
Just don't fucking buy an SUV. Flashy car? Okay. Just make sure it gets decent mileage.
Of course, I'd say there's something wrong with, say, wanting money to the point where you're willing to actively harm others (mentally, emotionally, physically) to do it, but the fact that you even asked the question makes it fairly clear you're not that kind of person.
So go ahead. Become a lawyer, make a lot of money, and have more of it than you know what to do with. It's not like a law firm is going to feed the homeless if they're not paying you.
I'm not a lawyer, nor do I consider myself an expert on being a lawyer. I did, however, work with a team of very excellent lawyers (these were the "top 10%" folks, and the firm only hired from the top 10 schools). For the top people coming out of the top schools, law can be very lucrative, as you note. The kind of jobs that pay that well are, however, very hard, and they require a tremendous amount of effort. Prepare to give up your nights, many of your weekends, many of your freedoms, etc. That money doesn't come free. Billable hours are very real. Big firms might require 1900 or 2000 billable hours per year as a basic goal, but you're really going to want that bonus that comes with billing 2400 hours or more. That assumes you're going to be billing at least 6 eight-hour days per week. But of course you'll be at work much longer than that, because not every hour of your day will be billable. So you're looking at an average of maybe 6 ten-hour days at work. Sounds fun?
As the great prophet James Taylor once said, "time buys you money but your money buys no more time."
This is a good way to get a feel of how billable hours work. Once you get the $$, though, its hard to give up.
http://www.envoyglobal.net/jdbliss/test/calculator2.htm
This man speaks the truth. There is nothing wrong with making money - it's what you do with it that can make you a good person. Just because you make money doesn't mean you have to own a Hummer and a McMansion - replace that kind of shallow consumerism/showing off with vacations to interesting places, donating to good causes, providing for your parents in their old age, or any number of things.
Or just buy a Hummer and a McMansion if that is what you really want. I've got nothing against rich people buying expensive stuff, especially if they got to that point by working 10-12 hour days 6 days a week for years. It's just how the world works.
If you really want to be rich, not just well off, chances are you're going to have to do more than just be a 160k wage slave. Most rich men are job makers, not job takers. That is, their success depends on the success of others whom they employ. Shitty employees? You're fucked. Smart well coordinated emplyees? You can do anything. These men created jobs to help those who needed them, and those employees in turn help them accomplish their goals. And some of those job takers may someday themselves become job makers, all because someone gave them a job they needed one day. This effect ripples throughout society.
And thus, by the simple virtue of making money, a rich man has already done his part for the community. The money is already the reward (plus, with the possibility of a future democratic president and the taxes that will bring, you will be giving back more than enough) . Enjoy.
Happiness originates inside you, not outside. Until you can be happy at $20,000 a year, you're unlikely to be truly happy at $100,000 or more.
Greed is an unhealthy focus on the self. "I'm not the Jedi I should be. I want more."
In talking about your work environment, what seems to be lurking unarticulated is a desire for respect and equality, not money. You feel looked down on, want to be treated as a peer. That's fine. But watch out. Law education won't get you that 100%. Nothing ever will. Someone who wants to look down on you will always find an excuse - you didn't go to the right school, didn't graduate high enough in your class, don't work for the right firm, wear the wrong color tie.... You may find yourself on a neverending chase for respect through work and achievement. "Someday I'll be the most powerful Jedi ever."
If you're going to put in all the work to go through law school, don't do it for the money. Don't do it for the status or respect. You can get those other ways. Do it because you want to serve people by practicing law. If you don't want that, then lawyering isn't the way for you - find another one.
That being said, perhaps perspective is what you might need to help. If you didn't get in the top 10%, you wouldn't be making 160k/year to start with. Do you have an idea what you would be making if you were lower in your class ranks? Would it be enough to thrive? To start investing? To perhaps begin side projects that COULD make you rich? There's more ways than just your direct employment that can make you rich... in fact, most of the richest people in the world only used employment as a first step. The real money they made was then gained by putting it into the right places at the right times and watching it grow... and then knowing when and how to pull it back out again.
Hopefully this helps. You can make it to where you need to be without killing yourself with stress... and even if you can't get to the level of super elite, you can rest assured that you won't likely ever end up on the streets. And that's something worth being thankful for.
I find what keeps me on keel is the line of work I chose... i.e. working with uninsured and under insured urban poor. Every day at work i find reasons to be thankful for what I have. Yes I get tempted when I see other docs bringing in the big money running assembly line clinics caring for rich people but working with the poor keeps me in balance. It helps me appreciate the things I do have and covet less those I don't.
Perhaps once you are done with Law School you will choose a field that will keep you similarly balanced. Or if you do join the rat race perhaps once in a while you will do pro bono work for the underprivileged and see how bad off some people are.
Another great way is to vacation (when you have the money to) in a poor country. Some of the backwaters of Mexico have such poverty that they make you feel blessed for just living in America.
Also remember life is not about work and money. Those are the things you acquire to do everything life has to offer. Don't become a workaholic. Have spare time to do the things you have always wanted to do. I don't know... write a book, go bird-watching, pick up drag racing, learn to fish, whatever strikes your fancy. There is so much we miss out on because we think having a great work ethic and being a slave to the paycheck is so important. It isn't.