The business of marriage
I read this article this weekend and wanted to share it.
It's pretty simple. Since marriage is a partnership in life, why not just make it a legal partnership right from the beginning?
What business does the government have regulating marriage? ... Colin A.P. Jones, an American attorney and professor at a Japanese law school, offers a "free market solution." Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, he argues for the need to break up the "government monopoly" on marriage. Instead of one set of marriage laws that apply to everyone, he proposes using the model of corporation law. Marriage would become the formation of a corporate partnership."Couples entering into marriage," Mr. Jones says, "should be able to use a partnership agreement that is tailored to their own circumstances and aspirations, one that reflects the values and expectations that they themselves attach to marriage."
He further proposes establishing larger "marital corporations" consisting of like-minded couples who could set the terms for marriage according to their own beliefs. "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."Mr. Jones does acknowledge the government interest in regulating marriage. Not all arrangements—such as incestuous ones—would be legal. Children's interests would be protected. Divorce would be a matter of dissolving the corporation. Those with strict anti-divorce clauses would exact a strong penalty.
"Exclusivity and the use of choice to define one's identity are at the core of modern consumer society," Mr. Jones concludes. "Extending this to marriage is only logical."
-- Source
It's a simple solution to what has blown up into far too complex of an issue. Right?
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