Naomi Schaefer Riley isn’t known for mixing her words. Her latest column in the NY Post revealed a lot of what’s wrong with our culture. She spoke of how contemporary life is characterized by a sad irony that marriage has grown more idealized and less common.
The most pernicious fact is how monetary/fiscal policy skew the very bonds that procure the most enduring capital. Without fixing the broken medium of exchange nor the tax code, the vast majority of American’s just cannot afford to consider marriage. The impact is embodied in adult-children living in the basement.
Just as a 25 year booming economy commoditized EVERYTHING, our culture views the bond of marriage as a consumer good rather than a transcendental event with consequences. Most today view marriage as a PRIZE bestowed for having getting your life together. Think of this: it takes decades to get to adequate capitial/equity formation. Given the propensity for cheap money (inflation), we haven’t yet considered the social, demographic impact such policies have.
Unless your Ludwig von Mises or Fredrick Hayek.
Both men wrote volumes on the pernicious social impact of easy money on the mores of a civilization. Given how both lived through the ‘Godderdamerung‘ that became Weimer, both men possess the felt experience of engaging a most difficult topic. The quality of life in an age tied to fiat money.
Can one really afford to get married absent capital/equity formation, a graduate degree and consistent work?
Immigrants do it here everyday! But then again, they recognize the intrinsic components of how a monotheistic faith based religiosity shapes culture and their subsequent commitments.
American’s have Bridezilla!
How else to say it: the cornerstone of western civilization is the sanctity of conjugal relations in the bond of marriage.
William Holland
William Holland 