The End of Marriage in Scandinavia

The Weekly Standard ^ | February 2, 2004 | Stanley Kurtz

[Landru]

"Ain't nothing wrong with a trophy wife. Trophy wives ALWAYS sign pre-nups, therefore the potential losses are known in advance."

Usually that's the case; however, I was eluding to the several couples I knew.
The guy's are broke, young nerdish interns who never got "The" gal in HS, then are suddenly found to be irresistable to a real babe who could see "success" written all over the guy as a shark smells blood from a mile away.
These gals snag 'em & always without the pre-nup & then go to work asap making their security in the form of this Dr-to-be's kids.

Naturally, the dope had absolutely no "social skills & therefore c/wouldn't see the setup coming, was struck by the bod, fluttering eyes (& faked 'O' sounmd(s)) but then after a couple kids -- around 5 years or so -- found themselves behind in court faced with a monstrous ailimony & child support payment for *years* to come.

Yea, those guys insisted on prenups afterwards, but boy were they fleeced & paid a dear price.

"However, the issue was marriage and the risk of divorce and loss of financial assets. No pre-nup, no marriage - then they're just mistresses."

HA!!
The people I know now -- all physicians -- are on their 2nd time around, have the drop-dead "Trophy Wife" who too is on her 2nd marriage, & yes they have prenups.

But I gotta tell ya, I know it's only anecdotal but to hear them tell it, their *deal* works like this:
1) Trophy wife gets credit cards, Jag, vacations & whateverinthehell else she wants from him, when she wants it, & he voluntarily coughs it all up.
2) He gets *some* sugar when & if she *wants* to provide it.

Gee whizz Snerfling, a good ol' dirty, clear-cut "you take the kids, half the assetts & get lost" divorce doesn't sound too bad by comparrisson to me.

The mere thought of being "married" to a high priced whore, just for sex, simply doesn't do it for me & makes no sense whatsoever, either.

...no matter what's been signed.

[xm177e2]

A majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Sixty percent of first-born children in Denmark have unmarried parents. Not coincidentally, these countries have had something close to full gay marriage for a decade or more. Same-sex marriage has locked in and reinforced an existing Scandinavian trend toward the separation of marriage and parenthood.

In order to believe that gay marriage would be harmful to marriage in general (and as a familial institution), one would have to believe that the heterosexual practicioners of the custom were swayed by what homosexuals did. If a gay guy gets married, are you less likely to? Are you less likely to have a child in wedlock because some gay people are getting married? If so, you're an idiot!

[Ringman]

People "stopped" getting married here in sweden long before homosexual unions were possible, or even debated.

One of the reasons for this is that a relationship gets a basic legal recognition after 6 months of living together. This is a very basic form, and very many seem to prefer it to marriage. I know couples with children in their teens who just never intend to marry eachother.

[nightdriver]

"All I can say is thank goodness the child credits and other family-friendly provisions got into place during the past couple of years."

Yes, but what with the prospect of divorce settlements that completely devastate husbands and fathers and gubmint "do gooders" like the autonomous CSD constantly threatening to confiscate kids, you can't say that the social trend brought on by governmental legislation is the least bit "family-friendly."

[Snerfling]

He gets *some* sugar when & if she *wants* to provide it.

Heh heh. I mentioned a Playboy model I had met while reviewing her proof sheets on an earlier post in this thread. She ended up marrying an actor from BH90210. I saw a quote from him during their divorce proceedings where he said something to the effect of "I thought we'd have a happy loving relationhip". In other words, he got nada except for eye-candy - strictly hands off.

Re: pre-nups. My next door neighbor has a successful housing supply business. (In fact a tradesman doing some work on our house was sort of in awe that this well known businessman was next door.) Anyway, he's got a hot Philapina wife around 20 yrs his junior. His grown kids from his first marriage are always over visiting. During the holidays, the kids got into with the new wife because they're worried that she's gonna get the biz! Turns out he didn't do a pre-nup! So what are they trying to do? Get a POST-NUP! I was beyond LOL - more like sh*ting my pants!

How do I know all these gory details? My wife is an attorney and the new wife was trying to get some advice. However, my wife is a real estate expert, not a family law person. She was literally trying to close her ears (I mean, who wants to know this crap, right?), but ended up getting out of it by giving here a referral. Now the guy won't even look at me anymore, 'cause he knows I know.

[Lorianne]

Six of one, half a dozen of another.

Men (and everyone) in Scandinavia support "the family"through higher taxes. One way or another men and women support "the family". The only difference is ... is it a livable society or an intolerable one.

My understanding is that Scandinavia is a country largely free from poverty and crime. So their system seems to work even though they pay extremely high taxes. Either way, there is no free lunch. If you want a stable comfortable decent life ... you have to PAY for it. Either through traditional or non-traditional means.

In our country we are trying to have our cake and eat it too ... trying to be free of both traditional adult responsibilities to the family AND against high taxes to support the family. The result is a higher crime/poverty rate and less stable society.

[Destro]

very good point.

[nickcarraway]

ping

[nickcarraway]

You didn't read the whole article. Homosexuals have not embraced the concept in the gay marriage countries. In fact, they basically pretended to want gay marriage, only for the socioligal impact it would have.

[VOA]

"The End of Marriage in Scandinavia"

Hey, Europe is mostly Post-Christian...no shock.

[nickcarraway]

Given Iceland's completely unique insular status, it isn't really a useful example for most countries.

[nickcarraway]

Nobody is forcing us men to get married. If some men don't do proper due diligence, they shouldn't blame everyone else...

[luckystarmom]

Men need to be more careful in who they marry.

I'll use my ex-boyfriend as an example. He dumped very nice girls (me and another girl). We both had marriage on our minds. Both of us girls have been happily married.

He picked some other girl to marry. He walked in on her in bed with someone else. They are not married anymore.

He was stupid. He had 2 chances to do it right, and he screwed up.

I'm grateful because he's a jerk. I smartened up and found a nice guy who's the love of my life. We've been married for over 12 years.

[Destro]

The institution of marriage is under decline and the reasons for that decline in the Western world was what I mused upon. So I deviated somewhat from the article's main point. Happens.

[Destro]

When economics does not play a role like it did in our past things like that will happen based on emotion and emotions are a double edged sword.

[nickcarraway]

I know. I'm just saying that many people today don't perform the necessary due diligence before getting married. No marriage laws can make up for that.

[luckystarmom]

Well, I'm completely financially dependent on my husband. Does that make him a fool?????

[Snerfling]

Well, I'm completely financially dependent on my husband. Does that make him a fool????

Well, that depends on a couple of things:
1. Are you young?
2. Are you hot?
3. Do you put out?

If yes to all 3, then I'd say your hubby has a pretty good deal. If no, then I'd say you have a pretty good deal. Actually, you have a great deal either way, since you've lucked into 1/2 no matter what you do.

[Jack Black]

what is Iceland's experience?

[Jack Black]

Everyone doesn't work equally in America. Lots of Americans are very driven and work their asses off. They pay for the other set that lie around in Section 8 housing having sex with multiple baby-daddies and smoking weed. I don't know if it's like this in Norway or not, but that's the deal here. Hell no we don't want to pay higher taxes.