"From many points of view, marriage is a costly hassle that makes no sense. Why, then, might there still be good reasons to get married?"Obviously, you can go watch it yourself if you want a good laugh, but if not, here's their main point:
Being married makes is harder to leave each other.
I kid you not. That's their argument.
A lot of people would see that precisely as why they shouldn't bother getting married.
They say marriage places a high and costly barrier in the way of splitting up. To a breadwinning man, this is like saying, "You should glue weights to your scrotum, because it will hurt a lot when someone comes along and rips them away." What kind of selling point is that?!? Divorce can be legally obtained unilaterally for no reason. Yeah, it's a pain for a breadwinning husband to go through a divorce, but it is financially rewarding to his wife.
Isn't it obvious by how many divorces there are that marriage isn't stopping people from splitting up?!?
And the premise requires that marriage is otherwise beneficial. The video does make a feeble attempt to say that marriage is good because it provides structure and that relationships (which they neglect to stress can exist without legal marriage) help us mature, develop, and become whole. No, really. What kind of structure are they talking about? The video even says "we lock ourselves up willingly because we don't trust ourselves." Apparently only married people develop impulse control, too.
So, if we're really, really generous to them, they're making the point that relationships are good and that getting legally married makes it more likely we'll stay in a relationship even when we really want out of it.
Hmmm.
I don't think children are mentioned at all.
At this rate, the only hope people promoting marriage have is hoping that men are masochists and/or lack critical thinking skills.
That Prager video was a classic. "Get married and you too can work longer hours and have fewer friends." It's a good job that professor isn't in sales. I can just imagine him telling a prospective customer: "This car is wonderful, it costs 10% more and uses 20% more gas than the other one you're thinking of buying".
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that pathetic video "proved" was that men who get higher-paying jobs earn more money. Not exactly an earth-shattering revelation.
Oh well, must get back to that wonderful high-paying job I would never have had if I had stayed single....
Peter, thanks as always for your comments.
DeleteYeah, I generally like Prager U videos, which YouTube is now banning, go figure. But that was a ridiculous video. The thing is, Prager and Wilcox can't see how ridiculous it is because they are so focused on selling marriage. If pressed, Prager will admit that he considers men marrying to be a duty to society, but he'll try to recover by saying it is good for men, too. I heard him just the other day again lamenting that there was such a negative reaction to the Wilcox video.