“How to Save Marriage in America”
By: Richard V. Reeves from the Atlantic
Commentary by: Sam Smathers 4th
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/how-to-save-marriage-in-america/283732/
There are
three types of marriages. The traditional view of marriage, the man makes the
money the women feeds the kids they all go to church on Sunday, the romantic
view of marriage- where they get married for the love aspect and never want
kids and say things like “you complete me”, these relationships usually don’t
last, and the new type of marriage, the HIP marriage where the people get
married, spend a few years being romantic, have kids and focus on their kids as
a joint effort, both parents are economically stable and independent, and they
don’t go to church on Sunday because they have piano lessons or a trip to the
museum. Marriage as an institution is dying out because more and more people
are realizing that you don’t need to be married to be happy. Educated people
are dismissing the traditional ideals of marriage and gender roles and
embracing more liberal social views like feminism and gay marriage, while poor
less educated people are sticking to traditional views on marriage. This is a
problem because if the poor people would adopt the HIP marriage model than they
would increase their quality of life because the men in those households
usually are no more apt than the women to make money, and if they both worked
than more money could be made for their kids.
I never
wanted to get married. I have the attention span of a child when it comes to
relationships with people. Most relationships have a lifespan of a year,
marriage has always been a laughable topic, and kids even more so, I can barely
take care of myself, another human would be crazy. Most likely because of the
chemical imbalance in my brain that makes me yearn for adventure and freedom,
being tied down to someone doesn’t sound appealing, but nonetheless I think
that HIP marriages are a great idea. Kids that have parents like this are
always happier and smarter than kids that have traditional parents. For
example, my parents are more of the traditional sort and their parenting style
is archaic compared to some of my friends parent’s parenting styles that rely
more on modern principles, teaching their kids how to hold their drinks instead
of saying no drinking, teaching their kids about safe sex instead of saying no
sex. In this age parents need to be teaching their kids how to make smart
choices not telling them what to do. I will still be going on road trips with
my Border collie and living in caves, but that doesn’t mean I don’t support
this new form of marriage. HIP marriage is one step closer to having an educated
populous rule the country instead of a conservative elite, and that is exactly
what we need to facilitate the change our country needs.
Shout out to the only people that will read this- Hey Meg
and Griffin.
I find this article really interesting since it's so prevalent in todays society. Less and less people feel obligated to marry and more and more and getting divorced. I semi-agree with Sam since I don't really know how a family with only one parent works fundamentally, but I do know that I push myself harder because of my parents successes and I know that I'll judge my relationships by comparing them to my parents. This balance in my eyes is an enabler to become more educate and motivated which produces some pretty cool people. I'm a fan.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. Holding fast to tradition can blind people to better ways of doing things. There is a time where people must relinquish their hold on traditional practices and methods so that they can be aware of methods that are better and more effective for the specific time period they are living in. Also, it is important to remember that our parents have our best interests at heart and, regardless of their parenting style, they have had an abundance of life experiences and failure that make them much wiser than their children.
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