Quote:
Originally Posted by Freebase Dali
My question to this is; what's wrong with a personal commitment between two individuals and why is it not usually considered as strong as a legal commitment?
Why can't a decision to be partnered with another person for the rest of your life be a personally binding contract, and not a legal one? Why does it need to be both?
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1 - personal commitment is seen as stronger because it's 'supposed' to encapsulate all aspects of the individuals involved, mind, body and soul or whatever, as opposed to just controlled legal materials.
2 - because people are ****s and will try to screw each other over for personal gain with little to no qualms about it.
as for the escapism point you bring up. even with laws in place take a look at the deadbeat parent stats, it doesn't matter whether or not they're legally responsible for their offspring there are plenty of parents who can't be bothered to pay attention to anything besides themselves and their desire to stay young forever. seems to me more often than not that's the root cause, if the two adults were fine with themselves and growing old they'd also be fine with raising the future.
in terms of the 3rd point. whichever parent is taking care of the child is the one that needs the support regardless of the gender. mind you the support is intended for the proper care of the child, to help with groceries, school supplies, diapers, lunches, text books, new clothes, etc. etc.
actually i think the biggest problem facing marriage in this day is that more and more brides and grooms still see themselves as two separate individuals after becoming married and starting their family as opposed to one of the two halves that create their only real future.