Just say no

Imagine for a moment that a man just lost his home, his car, his savings, and his family. Everything that means anything to this man is now gone in a flash. Was it the economy? Was it a natural disaster? No. This man got divorced. Divorce in itself is not the problem, but rather marriage is. Marriage is the leading cause of divorce. Marriage is also the leading cause of all of the life’s problems. There are many reasons to never get married including financial stability, independence, and inevitable divorce.
There is no statistic to support that there have ever been two people having the same income for their entire lives and the lack of this statistic leads one to believe that marriage is therefore entirely unjust. One “partner” will always put more into the relationship than the other. One person will bring more time, money, and effort to the contract than the other. Marriage is often referred to as a “partnership.” A partnership is defined as “A relationship between individuals or groups that is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility, as for the achievement of a specified goal.” (Partnership) Marriage is a lie. While it attests to be a partnership and a contract, it cannot be a true partnership because as established earlier, marriage is inherently unequal and therefore the contract terms are impossible to complete. Marriage is not fair for the one side that brings more financial stability to the contract. A community property state (which will be discussed in more detail later on) is a state in which after a marital contract has been created, each individual in the contract no longer has any private possessions, but rather they are possessions of the partnership. It is obvious to see that people’s judgment is clouded. Only under circumstances of extreme duress, extortion, or intoxication would people be foolish enough to sign a contract that relinquishes them of all of their personal property to be put into a trust and then rationed back out to them as the community sees fit. This doesn’t seem like a partnership, it seems like a cult. Individualism is sacrificed for the “greater good.” The member in the contract that brings more stability suffers by supporting the dead weight of the other member in the contract, then that person often wants to bring more people into the contract who will not provide any return (income) for at least sixteen years and in most circumstances never will these “children” bring anything but pain, suffering, and more financial instability as they present a risk that most insurance companies would shudder to accept. Financial stability is not the only thing that one will lose when they enter into a marital contract.
Independence is an inherent loss in the marital contract. The forefathers of this great country fought for independence and we slap them in the face when entering into a contract that makes us subject to the whims of another. While I certainly have my views on independence, I will let more honorable men speak for me in this section. Regarding independence, Thomas Jefferson said, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the […] bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” (United)
The United States was in an unfair contract, as is the nature of the marital contract and therefore, rebelled. Even the leaders of this great nation agree that unfair contracts result in tyranny and oppression and must be avoided at all cost. Colonists separated themselves from their marriage with England, but even the separation did not end the contract they had with them; they had to divorce themselves from England and declare complete independence. Wars were fought and won so we could be independent, yet some people insist on submitting themselves to the will of tyrants. To any person who is thinking about marriage I say to you, keep your independence, appreciate it, love it, and never get married. Thomas Paine once said, “He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself.” (Thomas) According to Paine it is my duty to warn, with all the power of my being, that marriage and the relinquishment of independence will be the end of the world as we know and enjoy it. We must maintain our independence at all cost, but if someone does fall in the snare of a marital contract, there is a way out.
Like removing one’s self from a bear trap, divorce will not leave the parties unscathed, but they will be free and they will avoid the greater evil and impending doom that it offers. While in this paragraph I will attempt to demonize divorce, one needs to understand that divorce is a result of marriage and that while marriage should be avoided at all cost, divorce is the only ethical option for someone who has made the foolish decision to enter into the contract of marriage. It was discussed that in marriage all personal possessions become a single community possession, but in divorce those items are unfairly divided right down the middle as if the unfair contract were actually a partnership as opposed to what has been discussed here before. There is no penalty for the breaking of the contract, but rather rewards, depending on who ended the contract and their standing before the contract. Many marriages are entered into fraudulently so one party may exploit the divorce laws and profit. The only way to protect one’s self from the horrors or divorce is to never marry.
Sure there are many who say that marriage is the moral thing to do and that children deserve to have married parents, but I never remember asking my parents if they are married. As a matter of fact, my parents may not be married, but contracts do not dictate who we are and how we behave. Marriage will not keep bad parents from beating their children; the marital contract will not stop neglect and it will not keep parents from leaving their small children in parked cars in the Arizona heat.
Some will say that marriage is a result of love and they want to be around that person and be tied to that person. If one trusts someone, they do not need contracts to assure that they will be faithful. Marriage is a result of lack of trust. It is an unfair contract designed for people who probably wouldn’t follow it anyway. I do concede that for taxation purposes that marriage does seem like a good idea, but at the same time, I contend that the financial loss inherent in marriage is far greater than the small yearly savings through the IRS.
Marriage has too high of a cost to be seriously considered. One will lose their financial stability, their independence and divorce will ultimately ruin them. Marriage must be viewed for the unfair contract that it is and avoided at all cost.