Oh, jeez, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to offend you, or imply anything. I was just trying to share my experience, which happened to start (for me) when I was 15.
I didn't mean to say that the federal government never cares about social matters. It's just that in the context I was talking about - say if one is applying for an educational grant - the information they need is about ones fiscal, not sexual, relationships. Unfortunately, some relationships (e.g. marriage) affect both.
I don't think there's a way for marriage to exist without the government having rules about it. So everyone has a contract, and all the contracts are different, reflecting different aspects of different relationships. Contracts are still a part of the law. They will still have clauses that the government will have to make rules about - and the government will still ask questions about what kinds of contracts you have. And people will still create a boilerplate contract (which some of them they will then fail to read) called marriage, because otherwise, instead of spending all that money on a big party they will be spending it on the lawyers they need to draft the contract.
There are ways to provide more flexibility than the current system has... and I think that would be a good thing. I just don't think it's possible to do it without rules and definitions - in other words, laws. And, if there have to be laws, then we should spend some effort making sure they are good ones.
I'd like to see a system that would allow for families with multiple adults. I'm currently in a three-adult family, and I could seriously use the legal protection being "married" would provide. However, I don't think we have enough information about how multiple-adult families work to write good laws about it. At least I don't think we have enough information yet...
To refer to one of your comments above (which I think is brilliant, BTW)... I'm being a hardened realist, even though I don't already have mine.
That doesn't mean I think things should never change, or can't change... I just don't think the correct practical step to take at this time is to create a lobbying committee to repeal the amendment to the constitution that outlaws polygamy.
I think we need to have a better idea of what we are doing first. So that when that amendment (hoepfully) gets repealed, what it gets replaced with will actually work better than the current system.
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Date: 2008-05-22 02:42 pm (UTC)I didn't mean to say that the federal government never cares about social matters. It's just that in the context I was talking about - say if one is applying for an educational grant - the information they need is about ones fiscal, not sexual, relationships. Unfortunately, some relationships (e.g. marriage) affect both.
I don't think there's a way for marriage to exist without the government having rules about it. So everyone has a contract, and all the contracts are different, reflecting different aspects of different relationships. Contracts are still a part of the law. They will still have clauses that the government will have to make rules about - and the government will still ask questions about what kinds of contracts you have. And people will still create a boilerplate contract (which some of them they will then fail to read) called marriage, because otherwise, instead of spending all that money on a big party they will be spending it on the lawyers they need to draft the contract.
There are ways to provide more flexibility than the current system has... and I think that would be a good thing. I just don't think it's possible to do it without rules and definitions - in other words, laws. And, if there have to be laws, then we should spend some effort making sure they are good ones.
I'd like to see a system that would allow for families with multiple adults. I'm currently in a three-adult family, and I could seriously use the legal protection being "married" would provide. However, I don't think we have enough information about how multiple-adult families work to write good laws about it. At least I don't think we have enough information yet...
To refer to one of your comments above (which I think is brilliant, BTW)... I'm being a hardened realist, even though I don't already have mine.
That doesn't mean I think things should never change, or can't change... I just don't think the correct practical step to take at this time is to create a lobbying committee to repeal the amendment to the constitution that outlaws polygamy.
I think we need to have a better idea of what we are doing first. So that when that amendment (hoepfully) gets repealed, what it gets replaced with will actually work better than the current system.
Kiralee