Marriage

Should the state be involved in marriage? Marginal Revolution debates. My response:

Great post -- I've been thinking along similar lines for some time. I am all for eliminating state intervention from marriage. The state should neither recognize marriage nor accord it any special benefits. You should be able to marry anything -- 2 other people, your cat, your television, whatever. The only possible restriction I see is that both parties -- if, indeed, it involves people -- is that they be legal adults so that children aren't involved.

Now, the obvious criticism of this approach is that it devalues marriage. But here's the thing: I don't have to recognize that marriage. If someone tells me that they married their sofa I am under no obligation to recognize it. I can say "That's nice, whatever works for you." Individuals that oppose homosexual marriage can simply choose not to recognize same-sex marriages. And really, who cares? If the two people who say they are married view themselves as married isn't that all that really matters?

In fact, taking this one step further, I think that if the state were to be totally removed from marriage that we would see competition emerge in the marriage industry. For example, institutions that perform marriage -- be they religious or otherwise -- could have a set of requirements for people to get married, such as being together for at least 6 months prior to marriage, etc. Others may have none. Then you could judge marriages by the institution that performed it, just as we frequently judge products by their brand.

Frankly, I find it mildly offensive that I am forced to recognize ridiculous sham marriages by the likes of Britney Spears because the state declares her to be married. I think under my proposed system any self-respecting marriage institution would have rejected her (to preserve their brand image). Other couples could brag that they were married by a particular institution known for its high standards as an indication of just how devoted they are to each other. Competition could help improve marriage!

These marriage institutions could also provide actual contracts for the couple to sign, spelling out exactly what privileges were included such as hospital visitation rights etc.

File this under "Markets in Everything."

You know, this is just another example of why we need to ensure that the state/political realm is as small as possible. By making the definition of marriage a political issue we only serve to divide people -- another reason for getting government out of education so that issues such as evolution, prayer, etc. can be settled as private rather than public matters.