Reblogged: A Controversial Thought on Divorce

[tadmjones]

RB

The OP seems to be focused on long term unhappy marriages(though I did not follow the link to the original article). As Libertarian what is your view of marriage and is it or can it been seen as separate from child rearing?

[Robert Baratheon]

There is a parallel here with the issue Coase examined in his famous economics paper The Theory of The Firm, which is why firms exist instead of everyone simply acting as a free agent and contracting as necessary. His insight was that transaction costs are high, so firms address the problem by providing efficiency and stability. I think it's much the same as marriages in the way of pooled resources, legal protections, and credible commitment. It's prohibitively risky for many to buy a house, a car, and have kids together if either partner is free to run out the moment they feel like it.

Of course the tool can be misused and become itself destructive if the parties don't do their due diligence and take the commitment seriously. This is just like how any legal instrument can become a noose if the terms are violated with reckless abandon.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Robert Baratheon

[JASKN]

You might have something there with the idea of time limit requirements which must be met legally, with the option to renew, etc.

I took the original post as a rough suggestion to counter the prevailing "wisdom" of staying together. I agreed, and expressed interest in rethinking the entire notion of how marriage is viewed today. You seem to represent a mix of the prevailing wisdom, coupled with a call for changes, but I'm not sure. There is no way to figure out what either of us mean without a back-and-forth. I don't know exactly what you mean by word games, but when I post, I try to do so with a purpose. I was trying to get you to clarify your position, because as yet I think it's too broad, with little specifics or reasons to back it up.

Edited May 21, 2014 by JASKN