Marriage, Inc.
Not to get all serious on you ladies, but this one was just too juicy to pass up. I guess it was just a matter of time before corporate America realized that the long revered idea of the institution of marriage was ripe for the pickin'.
I read this article Marriage Proposal: Why Not Privatize? from the SF Gate paper with great interest. The basic premise of the discussion is that there is a major disconnect between the fact that the government controls what is essentially a corporate partnership among two people in a way that does not speak to the very personal religious, sexual orientation, or simple life goals that couples often hope to create by teaming up.
Here's what they set forth:
"Even greater participation could be achieved through the establishment of marital corporations (MCs), which could have hundreds or thousands of couples as shareholders, all sharing common values about marriage.
Couples getting married would subscribe to the shares of an existing marital corporation. Its charter documents would set forth the terms of the marriage to which the subscribing couples agree.
Here is where a plethora of choices would become available to prospective newlyweds.
A Catholic marital corporation would forbid its members from divorcing. Progressive marital corporations would allow gay marriage. Islamic or Mormon fundamentalist marital corporations could allow polygamy. Plain vanilla marital corporations would probably be popular among people who just want to get married without thinking about it too much. "
Even as I post this, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about all this. On one hand, I'm saddened on almost a daily basis that gay couples are still considered second class citizens by the laws of our nation and not afforded the same opportunities that I am just because they are gay. On the other, its kind of scary to think about encouraging "big brother" to waltz (no pun intended) right into our lives and set up shop on our front lawns. Is privatization the answer? It certainly is an interesting concept, doncha think?
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program of pink chiffon, frosted cupcakes and coordinated bowties and cumberbunds.
I read this article Marriage Proposal: Why Not Privatize? from the SF Gate paper with great interest. The basic premise of the discussion is that there is a major disconnect between the fact that the government controls what is essentially a corporate partnership among two people in a way that does not speak to the very personal religious, sexual orientation, or simple life goals that couples often hope to create by teaming up.
Here's what they set forth:
"Even greater participation could be achieved through the establishment of marital corporations (MCs), which could have hundreds or thousands of couples as shareholders, all sharing common values about marriage.
Couples getting married would subscribe to the shares of an existing marital corporation. Its charter documents would set forth the terms of the marriage to which the subscribing couples agree.
Here is where a plethora of choices would become available to prospective newlyweds.
A Catholic marital corporation would forbid its members from divorcing. Progressive marital corporations would allow gay marriage. Islamic or Mormon fundamentalist marital corporations could allow polygamy. Plain vanilla marital corporations would probably be popular among people who just want to get married without thinking about it too much. "
Even as I post this, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about all this. On one hand, I'm saddened on almost a daily basis that gay couples are still considered second class citizens by the laws of our nation and not afforded the same opportunities that I am just because they are gay. On the other, its kind of scary to think about encouraging "big brother" to waltz (no pun intended) right into our lives and set up shop on our front lawns. Is privatization the answer? It certainly is an interesting concept, doncha think?
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program of pink chiffon, frosted cupcakes and coordinated bowties and cumberbunds.
posted by Erica at 8:16 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home