The New York Times has reported a study that says over half of US births to women under 30 occur outside of marriage. One so-called "sociologist" in the article explains it is because marriage is a "luxury" reserved for the higher educated. I have a few thoughts about that. I've decided to blog about these kinds of things again, instead of posting them on facebook, because I no longer feel free to express myself fully there. Blogging is more of an intellectual safe haven, at least for now.
Anyway, marriage is certainly not a "luxury" in reality. On TV and in the minds of idiots who call themselves sociologists, maybe it looks luxurious, but most definitions of luxury do not involve lots of hard compromise, sacrifice, and effort. Instead of pretending that marriage is some far-off luxury that only the mythical "one-percent" can afford, people should recognize that they are making excuses for selfish irresponsibly. Selfish irresponsibility and marriage are pretty much mutually exclusive in the long term. Sure, selfish irresponsibility is a lot easier than marriage. And that, basically, is why marriage has lost its status in our modern society that gorges itself on instant gratification.
Let's look at some other aspects of this story. I'm not too organized in my thoughts so that is just how this is going to be. The NYT article's examples of single mothers seemed like stereotypically promiscuous, careless, immature government dependents. Yeah, that sounds harsh. Spare me the bleeding hearts and enabling minds. Come on, why excuse people from being selfish and irresponsible? Why not instill in these young women that they really don't have to have sex with these guys they don't even like that much? Why aren't these young women being encouraged to value themselves more than that? And why the hell hasn't that supposedly untouchable and indispensable organization called PLANNED PARENTHOOD been more effective in actually helping these women PLAN their parenthood?? It's definitely not a lack of funding when they get nearly $500,000,000 a year from the government plus whatever other funding.
However, the women are not all to blame. Way too many men under 30 are also too selfish and irresponsible. Why aren't young men being encouraged to value themselves as more than just penises with no self-control? It's so much easier for them to sit around connected to some virtual fantasy world where their actions don't really have any consequences and where they don't really have to exert any effort to support themselves and any offspring they just happen to disseminate. Living at home with mom, who is/was likely also a single mother, is just too comfy to leave. These older single mothers have not shown their sons how to be responsible men because they have taken on all the responsibility themselves. The guys grow up seeing that their biological fathers are "off the hook" for the work, sacrifice, and compromise of marrying their mothers. So why would they think that they should do the work of marrying the mother of their children? If we want to play sociologist then it should be obvious that not marrying, not being a responsible father, and relying on the government to support your kids and their mothers are much more of a "luxury" lifestyle than marriage.
I guess if people are offended by the brutal truth then I don't really want to hear about it. I'm probably just going to turn off comments because I don't have the time or energy to coddle hurt feelings or defend the free expression of my views.
