Married people are a minority in the U.S.
I read it today in the NYT. Married people are a minority for the first time (ever?) in a long time. People don't get married. Why? I have some theories:
1. We live in a selfish culture. Marriage and family involve sacrifice that many people are not willing to make. Not saying this is bad, but it's true.
2. Marriage does not make pragmatic or economic sense for many people. The probability of divorce is high. The economic costs of divorce are also very high. For people who have no compulsion to reproduce (see #1) there is very little marginal utility to the acquisition of a spouse. In a world where both people are typically required to work and where common-law relationships are not discouraged, marriage has become an anachronism. At one time a large part of marriage involved an implicit contract (division of labour etc..) between a couple that would allow the family unit to function. Today that notion has been obscolesced by economic realities. Boo ya.
3. Speaking of economic realities.....people these days establish themselves in stable careers much later in life. This may also be a factor.
4. The decline of religion's influence on people's lives.
5. Standards are waaaay too high. After 1 date 90% of girls stop returning your phone calls even if you call them like 12 times a day. The girls who do return calls usually only say "Stop calling me!" and then hang up.
6. Other guys always making you look bad by making fun of the way you throw a football.
7. Most people can't see past the ponytail, long dirty finger nails, Japanese anime collection, and multiple felony convictions to the beautiful person inside.
1. We live in a selfish culture. Marriage and family involve sacrifice that many people are not willing to make. Not saying this is bad, but it's true.
2. Marriage does not make pragmatic or economic sense for many people. The probability of divorce is high. The economic costs of divorce are also very high. For people who have no compulsion to reproduce (see #1) there is very little marginal utility to the acquisition of a spouse. In a world where both people are typically required to work and where common-law relationships are not discouraged, marriage has become an anachronism. At one time a large part of marriage involved an implicit contract (division of labour etc..) between a couple that would allow the family unit to function. Today that notion has been obscolesced by economic realities. Boo ya.
3. Speaking of economic realities.....people these days establish themselves in stable careers much later in life. This may also be a factor.
4. The decline of religion's influence on people's lives.
5. Standards are waaaay too high. After 1 date 90% of girls stop returning your phone calls even if you call them like 12 times a day. The girls who do return calls usually only say "Stop calling me!" and then hang up.
6. Other guys always making you look bad by making fun of the way you throw a football.
7. Most people can't see past the ponytail, long dirty finger nails, Japanese anime collection, and multiple felony convictions to the beautiful person inside.
Labels: current events
posted by Mr. Apple at 12:20 AM
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