Perhaps you can help me see the capitulation here JC?
The concept of marriage licences is a liberal idea designed to give the state(and thus them) some lever of control over our marriages.
That control is now being abused so why not just wipe it out? Return marriage to the exclusive province of the church & God where it has belonged for many thousands of years prior to the “progressive era”.
I see no capitulation here, On the contrary. I see only jumping to the logical conclusion to cut off the left.
“The concept of marriage licences is a liberal idea designed to give the state(and thus them) some lever of control over our marriages.”
That’s actually not so. The concept of marriage licenses dates back to the English Common law, alongside Habeaus Corpus and Trial by Jury.
It was brought over to the United states along with the rest of the Common Law, well before the Revolution. All the states are governed by the common law, either introduced when they became states or under territorial control of the United States.
The last challenge to this law was in Reynolds vs the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed that the Federal government had an obligation to preserve marriage between one man and one woman and could prosecute things like bigamy and polygamy, alongside homosexuality.
I get what Rand is saying about the need for constitutional governance - he is off base here when he strips something that is constitutional for the federal government to regulate.
The other question for Rand is what about spousal visas? Federal control of immigration is also constitutional. Does he propose to do away with them altogether since the ‘government has no say’, or should immigrants be permitted to bring in a companion?
This is a poorly thought out position by Rand which, if extended to it’s natural consequences - would be absolutely disastrous. Does Rand plan to suspend child support payments? Spousal support via Social security? Etc.