The Goat Pen

Yikes!

Fifer wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:35 pm IB You have good insight into a developing social problem. Here's what I know. That young men are waking up and putting the divorce industry out of business. Example, the State of Ohio issued 100,000 marriages licenses in 1990 by 2018 it fell below 60,000. That should tell you a lot, and divorce is declining right along with it. Birth rates in nations like Japan and Western Europe have reached a critical stage of decline. If Japan doesn't start to allow immigration now, it's population will have dropped in half in 50 years. It will cease to exist by the end of this century. Same story in Western Europe. In spite of all the immigration the US is losing population and the median age is climbing steadily. We all know this is due to the inequality of divorce law.

Thank you.

From a developing social problem standpoint, that thing that annoys me the most about all of this is that society refuses to talk about this. Society would rather NOT have a discussion as to why marriage is vanishing and INSTEAD would rather talk about "inequality" in the abstract. And what I mean by that is, hey, lets see what government can do for the never-married-mom to make her "whole" in the absence of a marriage she will never have OR what can we do to alter society to make childless people "whole" when there will be no spouses forthcoming. A big thing on this now is discussion about student loan forgiveness. There are millions (maybe even 10 million or more) of young people with $50K, $100K, or more in student loan debt with zero willingness to pay that debt off in the near or even distant future. When asked about it, the majority of 22 to 25 year old young people shrug their shoulders and say "well I just assumed my husband would someday pay it off." As your math indicates, there are less and less husbands forthcoming. That is a policy problem.

• 1960: high water mark for ALL of US history, 80% of all adults 18 years and older are married
• 1976: we start tracking marriage rates routinely 72% of all people in the US 18 and older are married
• 1980 66% were married
• 1990 62% were married
• 2000 56% were married
• 2010 51% were married
• 2013 (the great cross over) only 49.9% of all people in the USA 18 and older are married
• 2020 down to 45% (setting a new record low year after year)

For the last 10+ years, National Review Online would very occasionally mention the horrifying low marriage rate. And they would mention all the recent discussions as to why women seem to be lonely and not finding husbands. The overwhelming question at NRO that is asked (but never answered) is why should men "man up" and get married? Why should they? What's in it for men? No one has answer. If you ask anyone on the left that question, they will likely respond with a question: what are you a misogynist? Why would you ask that? That would be the response on the left (the response to silence any discussion.) If you ask Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity that question they would say something along the lines of "responsibility" or you are not really a man until you take on the responsibility of first being a husband. Getting married is akin to a rite of passage from childhood into adulthood for men, the same rite that we do not ask of women. Using Tucker's logic, Bill Maher is a 66 year old boy worth over $250 million dollars (none of it inherited), but not yet a man. I find these conversations interesting:



Frightening. Dr Smith has all the numbers. Dr Smith knows the law. She writes the numbers and puts everything into a cost-reward analysis. Dr Smith's opinion as to why marriage is vanishing, is an opinion that I agree with. Perhaps I am in the minority with her?

And still, I don't think society is really paying all that much attention. Instead of government trying to act to motivate marriage in some capacity, we enact policies to try and "simulate" spouses (the benefits of a spouse) for those increasingly unlucky people who are never chosen. Maybe what we should be doing is chasing the rabbit down the rabbit hole and figure out what-the-fuck happened and why people aren't getting married? And if the answers we find are awful and hurtful, then at least be honest about it.

Nobody really cares if people are getting married or not. Some do. Some don't. Not really my concern

I used to feel the same way you do rat. Now that I have kids, and I want them married, and I want grand-kids sired in marriage, I feel differently. Now I am concerned.

Are your kids married rat?

Nope. Doesn't matter to me either way.

Mine are both married. Three grands. Two boys and a girl.

"Now that I have kids, and I want them married, and I want grand-kids sired in marriage, I feel differently."

So you think it's valid that you should be able to dictate social policy simply b/c you want grandkids? Fucking narcissist...

(stares into space, thinks for a minute, then answers hedge's question)

Yes. Yes hedge I do think I should be able to dictate some social policy. So should you. So should all of us. That is our civic responsibility for living in a nation with self-government.

What I know is that right now, what we have, its not working. And because it isn't working, we need to make some changes. And in order to make those changes, we must first define the problem, where we went wrong, and what we need to do to fix it. Narccisist that I am, I believe that I have done that.

Nobody wants your answers IB. You are way to far out in Wackoland.

rat, be "chill"

hedge wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 12:41 pm

LMAO

IB needs to chill…in a morgue

fair

Do we draw straws this time or what? Who's closest to Arizona?

IB, don't let the libs on here dissuade you from posting with your heart and head. They call you names because they know you are right.

Carry on, soldier.

sardis, also fair

Fifer wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 3:03 pm Mine are both married. Three grands. Two boys and a girl.

Happy to hear that. How does it feel to be a grandfather?

innocentbystander wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:35 pm

Fifer wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 3:03 pm Mine are both married. Three grands. Two boys and a girl.

Happy to hear that. How does it feel to be a grandfather?

I adore them, but they are work. My son and his two boys are here. My daughter and her husband and baby are down south.

IB If you think these states legislatures are going to turn back the clock sixty years and eliminate no fault divorce, your living in delusional koo koo land. Same goes with these dreamers that think they can stop legal abortion. It's just not going to happen.