What benefit do I have if I have three or four kids, get married and stay married?
At the end of the day, if I have no children I might pay a little more in taxes, but nothing that even nearly approaches the real cost of having them. Yet when I'm older I will reap all the benefits from those children even if I choose to have none, which would not have been the case 150 years ago, before we became so advanced, progressive, cultured and with a social/safety net.
If I gave you a trillion dollars and it were all in a huge pile but you were the only person left alive on this planet, what would that money do for you other than warm you as you burn it? Money is nothing more than an abstract concept of human capital/labor/creativity. It always has been and it will always be that the young feed the old. In our system today those that choose to have no children and live hedonistic into the day can live out their wildest fantasies, and in the end those with kids who self sacrificed will have their kids pay for the savage in his old age.
We have created a system that punishes having children. That punishes being married in its tax code. That gives the institution of marriage no status or privilege legally other than having a spouse being able to make a claim against one for alimony in case of a divorce. Try getting information on your married spouse when the doctor’s office calls that you wish to relay. Not even the most basic powers are assumed present when married; no you need to get a power of attorney for that. Divorce by the way is very easy and near consequence free……..
Most people will follow the path of least resistance and are outright hedonists (maximize pleasure). We have de-incentivized and devalued marriage in every respect. In the arts and entertainment, legally where it brings nothing other than risk if separated, in costs were the tax code essentially punishes people, granting anyone essentially the same privileges and perks of being married (i.e. gays), where those with kids won't even be the ones reaping the benefits of those kids when they are old and their kids are providing to sustain the system but those who chose to not have kids will still benefit...........
What do people expect? Seriously!
Red, I have to agree with most of your conclusions. However, I’d like to add another reason for the decline of marriage in the middle class. It seems to me that a large portion of blame belongs in the pulpit (if they are used anymore) and the failure of today’s ministers to lead their flocks and hold them morally accountable. Pastors today are shadows compared to the leading lights of Christian preachers years ago. They preached the Word, and made sure that their congregations knew what God asked of them. Most of today’s churches are more concerned with their bottom lines and how contemporary their music is. For what it’s worth...
It's consequence free unless you're the father of kids, and you want to do the right thing and stay involved in their lives but your ex chooses to move them away. As my divorce lawyer said to me, "Face it, you have a bullseye on your back." Usually she gets all the rights and you get all the responsibilities, that's the American divorce system.
We have created a system that punishes having children.... Most people will follow the path of least resistance and are outright hedonists (maximize pleasure). We have de-incentivized and devalued marriage in every respect.
Classic, classic tragedy of the commons. What a way to make Social Security even shakier than it would have been otherwise.
Sad to say, it gives a powerful incentive for unrestricted immigration. It's not that hard to shrug off the "legalize and tax" argument with respect to marijuana, because doing so wouldn't add that much to government budgets on a percentage basis. Besides, any such tax revenue would go into the general till. If there's any tax-desirous constituency that'd be really swayed by that argument, it'd be government-employee retirees - or soon-to-be retirees.
On the other hand, "legalize immigrants and FICO-tax them" has a bigger constituency. The liberals either haven't clued in yet or have yet to launch a campaign on that basis.
Imagine seeing this sign held by an illegal immigrant on the news: "GRINGO - I PAY YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY!" It'd be a sign that the pro-amnesty faction is pulling out the main artillery.
BRavo — I love your post. I hate the welfare state and all that it stands for too. Thank you for posting that
This has happened before. Rome fell because the Romans stopped making babies. Even after Christianity became the state religion.