More on Marriage

I wrote here on the subject of marriage just before Christmas. To me, most of what was interesting in that posting was referrable to some American websites. The sites describe themselves as being of an economics bent, which is not inaccurate, but it is important to know that, in general, they share a devotion to libertarianism. This is a common, but not universal, affliction of economists. Fortunately, it is not inconsistent with insightful writing and stimulating discusssion.

Now, from another libertarian site, I offer you another provocative article on the subject.

I was referred to the article myself by yet another libertarian, Arnold Kling, whose eye was caught by this passage in particular:

...Hedonic marriage is different from productive marriage. In a world of specialization, the old adage was that “opposites attract,” and it made sense for husband and wife to have different interests in different spheres of life. Today, it is more important that we share similar values, enjoy similar activities, and find each other intellectually stimulating. Hedonic marriage leads people to be more likely to marry someone of their similar age, educational background, and even occupation. As likes are increasingly marrying likes, it isn’t surprising that we see increasing political pressure to expand marriage to same-sex couples.

In general, we are still in an age of specialisation, but the trend inside relationships has, for some decades now, been in the other direction. Men are expected to take their turns feeding babies in the middle of the night, for example.

One may agree or disagree with this and the other views set out - my own views are not set in stone - but I say that this is useful material for rumination.