Marriage: Do we Really Have to do it the Old Fashioned Way?

From the beginning of time, marriage has been the ideal situation for all people, starting from a very young age. Little girls begin planning their weddings, as well as Barbie's wedding at around the same time. Why then are marriage rates dropping so drastically among Canadians, and is this entirely a bad thing? According to Barbara Kay of the National Post, it is. According to Kay, we are "drying up as a society", as Canadians are too concentrated on "privileges and pleasures". But why is putting yourself first, and taking advantages of what makes you happy a bad thing? As Ann Marie McQueen stated, single people aren’t anti-marriage, marriage is still a respected milestone in our society. The difference is that now people know what they want. We don’t want to settle for what we can live with, if we have the choice of waiting for that one person we can't live without. In my opinion I think it is perfectly fine for people to wait for marriage, as this is a choice that will hopefully be with you for the rest of your life. Kay argues, and states that people who claim to be "self-aware" are actually just being "selfish" but I don’t agree. We are living in a society that does not pressure single people to get married. We no longer have the financial need, and we no longer have the emotional need, people are getting married for their own reasons. Kay also argues that "true happiness is taking responsibility, is moving out of your parents home, is starting a family" and she does have a point, in that according to the host, married people say they are happier, but she also says that married people are more likely to suffer from depression, paranoia, and that married people are "slightly ill mentally". The other issue debated, is that of children. I think McQueen had it correct saying that people are having children for their own selfish reasons, and not those of society. Yes, the rate of child bearing is decreasing, but in a world already facing overpopulation, is that really so terrible? I don’t think so. My last point is that Kay states that "common law relationships are 450 times more likely to break up than marriage" but in my opinion, I feel it is better for people to break up while they are common law, than if they were to decide 5 years into marriage that they hated each other. Marriage is a sacred thing, and having children is a huge and exciting time in any individual’s life, but in my opinion, it isn’t killing anyone that people are waiting, or choosing to opt out of these milestones in their lives.