[Carnivale Ed]

Originally Posted by LadyShea

The military is the government.

Fine, the government then. Tell them not to pay married people more than singles, just like every other industry used to do. That actually is discrimination, it's just not an argument for the new contract system you're proposing.

And, as for people in ICUs, those seem like reasonable people to allow in and to be making decisions. That's my point entirely. Only in a minority of cases would this be different (and, if it is, other arrangements can already be made). Doesn't seem like a good enough reason to completely revamp marriage into some sort of other binding social contract.

Originally Posted by LadyShea

I disagree that it's a minority of cases. Many, many, many people are estranged from or at odds with their families and families contest "other arrangements" all the time, based entirely on the assumptions you are making...that they are concerned and caring because they are immediate family.

And I don't want to revamp marriage, I want to disentangle it from the bureaucracy. I simply want all these assumptions and implied rights to be spelled out and codified, agreed to by each individual in a more explicit manner, as well as be afforded to those who choose not to marry.

The assumption that a spouse and family actually do care is in no way far-fetched and not at all unreasonable. Do dysfunctional families exist? Yes. Can you already limit the decision-making power they have over you? Yes, again. The moral of the story is, if your marriage goes south, get your affairs in order.

You want to disentangle marriage from the bureaucracy by miring the rest of society in an endless series of confirmations through the bureaucracy? Hmmm.

I'll ask the question a third time. How, exactly, are people who choose not to marry being disadvantaged?