Marriage.
What is it? What has it become? Where should it go?
My take: I usually roll my eyes when people make any noise about how marriage isn't what it used to be and that's somehow a bad thing. Marriage has *always* been messed-up, it's just that we're more aware of it now.
Marrying out of love is a brand-new concept, in fact. Arranged marriages used to be the standard for a long, long time and there's good reason why they worked. From day 1 of your arranged marriage, you have the attitude that you do not know this person you're marrying, so decided to work like hell to make it work.
These days, we live under the delusion that we know the person we're about to marry when, in fact, you're still marrying a total stranger.
I propose we make a radical change to the institution of marriage considering the radical changes that have happened to society and relationships between men and women (or men and men and women and women if that's your thing) in the past 100 years.
My plan is simple: a 5 year waiting period for marriage licenses. Wanna get married? Are you sure? Do you *really* want to get married? OK, you'll have to wait 5 years, go through all kinds of hassle before you can march down the isle and say "I do." This would deter puppy love marriages and any marriage that wasn't thought out properly.
In addition to waiting 5 years before marriage, make it illegal to produce children without a valid marriage license. Hey, you have to get a license to drive a car, and that's nowhere near the huge responsibility as raising kids. Seems fair to me, 'cause that way the only people who are raising kids are honestly serious about the whole family thing.
Another idea: a marriage contract. Make it renewable. There's no divorce or anything messy like that, just an initial 5 year marriage contract. If at the end of those 5 years the couple decides they aren't meant to be, they simply don't renew the contract. If, however, they decide they can't live without each other, they could sign a new contract for either a 5, 10, 20, 30 or lifetime marriage. Parent licenses will only be handed out after the 2nd contract has been signed.
What is it? What has it become? Where should it go?
My take: I usually roll my eyes when people make any noise about how marriage isn't what it used to be and that's somehow a bad thing. Marriage has *always* been messed-up, it's just that we're more aware of it now.
Marrying out of love is a brand-new concept, in fact. Arranged marriages used to be the standard for a long, long time and there's good reason why they worked. From day 1 of your arranged marriage, you have the attitude that you do not know this person you're marrying, so decided to work like hell to make it work.
These days, we live under the delusion that we know the person we're about to marry when, in fact, you're still marrying a total stranger.
I propose we make a radical change to the institution of marriage considering the radical changes that have happened to society and relationships between men and women (or men and men and women and women if that's your thing) in the past 100 years.
My plan is simple: a 5 year waiting period for marriage licenses. Wanna get married? Are you sure? Do you *really* want to get married? OK, you'll have to wait 5 years, go through all kinds of hassle before you can march down the isle and say "I do." This would deter puppy love marriages and any marriage that wasn't thought out properly.
In addition to waiting 5 years before marriage, make it illegal to produce children without a valid marriage license. Hey, you have to get a license to drive a car, and that's nowhere near the huge responsibility as raising kids. Seems fair to me, 'cause that way the only people who are raising kids are honestly serious about the whole family thing.
Another idea: a marriage contract. Make it renewable. There's no divorce or anything messy like that, just an initial 5 year marriage contract. If at the end of those 5 years the couple decides they aren't meant to be, they simply don't renew the contract. If, however, they decide they can't live without each other, they could sign a new contract for either a 5, 10, 20, 30 or lifetime marriage. Parent licenses will only be handed out after the 2nd contract has been signed.
