The Russian effort to abolish marriage took place from 1917 to the 1920s, at the end of which measures had been put into place for correcting the damages that had been caused. Still, it took a long time to undo the damages that had been done, so much so that,

“In his recent book Perestroika ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0851245013/qid=1076198346/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-3696667-5476800?v=glance&s=books#product-details ), Mikhail Gorbachev reflected on 70 years of Russian turmoil: “We have discovered that many of our problems — in children’s and young people’s behavior, in our morals, culture and in production — are partially caused by the weakening of family ties.”" — Carey Roberts, January 13, 2004; http://www.dvmen.org/dv-49.htm#dissolution

Lee, it would be a good thing if, instead of calling for radical solutions (e. g.: “Don’t Marry”), you were to reflect on the Russian experience of social chaos that was launched so long ago and took so terribly long to repair, even though the efforts at repairing began very soon after the damage had become apparent. Consider at the same time also the saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Take great care that the cure does not become a disease that is far worse than the one it was intended to address.

As to your discussion threads on marriage to foreigners being an alternative that is preferable because of the allegedly much lower divorce rates, that is contrary to my experiences and observations. However, I would love to see any citations you have for credible research from reputable and objective sources to substantiate your claim.

All of this is a discussion that deserves more attention than you and I can give it on a one-one basis, which is why I no longer want to have it via this e-mail exchange. I moved it to Dads & Things http://blog.fathersforlife.org/2010/09/06/dont-marry/, so that many more people can benefit from it and perhaps even become involved.

Regards,

Walter

Hello Walter,

One of the means by which to deal with the current legal, social and financial situation in the USA is to not marry at all.

In addition many members on our forum discuss;

-Marriage to women from other countries.
-Moving to another country and marrying there.

The divorce rate for an American Man marrying a Foreign Women, and settling into American life in America, is about 20%. This compares quite favorably with the 43% to 60% divorce rate that 2nd generation and above Americans currently have.

“It seems that you did not take the time to read The Russian Effort to Abolish Marriage, The Atlantic Monthly, July 1926, as that article describes in great detail that a most serious problem resulting from the abolition of marriage was the creation of unprecedented numbers of orphans. That was not the least of the problems. The USSR also experienced, for example, a massive increase in polygamy. Still, even there, whether someone pretends to live in a single marriage in each of those ostensibly single but multiple marriages or whether he claims that there is no longer any need or even the wish to become married, thereby through rationalizing to “legalize” his promiscuous screwing around, what is the difference? The results are the same.”

Thank you for the refresher in Gramscian School Cultural Marxism, but I have been aware of such ideas for 15 years or so. Moving to the Philippines, or China, or Russia, or Brasil, or Mexico or any of a number of other countries, getting married and rearing a healthy family, does not fit in with ‘The Russian Effort to Abolish Marriage’, etal. Bringing a wife to the USA from a culture that has solid family values, as the USA did pre-1965, strengthens marriage and does not weaken it.

All the best,
Lee