Friday, May 23, 2008

Citizens or Servants of Government, Part One

Two issues have come to the forefront recently; The Government deciding whom you can and can not marry and the education of it's citizens.

The California Supreme Court recently caused a Nova in Right Wing Radio by overturning the state's ban on marriage. The Right attacks centered on two basic salients:
1) Tyrannical Unelected Judges are attempting to impose their liberal secular progressive values on the majority of Americans who don't share their beliefs.
2) And Marriage has always historically been defined as between one man and one woman.

Well, we can disperse with the second point easily, because it is not true. Marriage has not been historically defined as one man and one woman. Marriage is a cultural artifice which varies between human societies. Whether that be Polygamous or Polyandrous situation or the mainstream American model.

Currently in America we have Serial Monogamy, which up until recently was dominated by Older Men. When financially successful men gathered enough resources they could jettison their current older model and marry a younger one. This was evidenced by such men as Johnny Carson and Hugh Hefner. Now financially secure older woman are getting into the trade-in of their older spouses for younger men, e.g. Demi Moore's trade of Bruce Willis for Ashton Kutcher.

The first point is one which politically ignorant Americans, who often listen to Rush Limbaugh for their civics lessons, get hoodwinked because it doesn't matter. Government has no right to determine whom is "married" to whom, as long as each person is an adult (let's say 17), is of sound mind, no coercion is used and the union is freely entered into by each person. If Person A and Person B wish to share a household and recognize each other via legal documents and call themselves "married" that is their right. And the will of the majority doesn't matter. The majority can not vote themselves control over their fellow citizens. If 101 people get together 51 can not vote to enslave the other 50.

Part Two will touch on the new GI Bill and the Government officials who are worried American citizens will only spend 3 years in the military in an attempt to get education benefits.

Update 05/23:
Rick Santorum chimes in using the two pronged attack; It's tradition and against the Will of the People.

1 comment:

Nixon said...

Government not meddling in people's personal affairs!?! What a novel concept.