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unsui
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Likes it here |
Registered: September 2007
Messages: 338
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Fri, 24 October 2008 18:13] |
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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Marriage itself infringes on the rights of individuals.
Why should 2 people need to be married to be eligible to enter into a particular contractual agreement?
I should have the right to enter into a contract with whoever I want regarding any of my property, labour and body.
If I want to give hospital visitation rights to some random bum on the street, that should be my right.
Of course, while I support the eventual abolition of state marriage in favour of unrestricted bilateral contracts, in the meantime it is still a win.
I just hope that as we move on "marriage" will be able to move away from being something legal into something that is purely ceremonial. A lot of people will probably still choose a marriage like contract. But "non-married" people should be able to have those same rights.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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Yes, Michael,
John Stuart Mill called it "the tyranny of the majority" and it is rarely mentioned nowadays, particularly by those who go on about democratic rights.
The British parliament's recent support of the Brown government's proposal that they can lock up anyone they like for 42 days without charging them or telling anyone they have them locked up or giving anyone any hint about the reason for locking them up so long as they call them 'a terrorist suspect' is an example of democracy going wrong and a powerful government using all its privileges and barrels of pork to persuade MPs that ought to know better to support this gross betrayal of our ancient rights.
There are times when the USA seems a just and liberal society compared with the UK!
Love,
Anthony
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Yes, Saben,
hospital visitation rights are a problem when you are taken in in a coma and might take weeks to come out ot it.
The thing is that there are so many circumstances where the partners of a marriage are given privileges with respect to the other that it is just easier to call the relationship marriage and then the only change we need is to have it extended to allow any two people to marry.
There are still problems, though. There has been some noise in the press here because two sisters, living together for fifty years will get thrown out of their house when the first one of them dies. They aren't even allowed to form a civil partnership!
I agree with you. Whatever we call it, any two people should be able to enter into a partnership and doing so should bring each of them a raft of privileges when dealing with institutions and the law and tax people.
Love,
Anthony
[Updated on: Mon, 16 June 2008 19:32] |
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I feel sorry for the women that have the housing problem but there are ways other than marrage to mediate the damage. Marc and I both had iron clad wills. When Marc died there was one attempt to throw out his will and it failed. The house we lived in was in both our names. If one or the other of us died the house was paid off and put in the survivors name. Im not sure how all hospitals work the one I go to here is gay friendly and it was no problem for mine or marks name to be put on a list of people who could visit or recieve updates just like family. In fact I know that Curtis goes to the same hospital in the childrens wing and Jeff has been allowed to sleep in the room with him when he was so sick. Marrage isnt the answer to everything. The first two guys who got married in Vermont have already filed for divorce. If it doesnt work for str8t people why do gays think it will work for them.
If you stand for Freedom, but you wont stand for war, then you dont stand for anything worth fighting for.
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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The combination of a power of atorney and a living will will gain access to any hospital in the US.
As for other countries, contact a family atorney and if possible. they can put together a package which can circumvent the problem of familial repsentation.
I can't say for sure, but i would bet the farm that the reason the first gays that had a CU did not get divorced due to marital rights issues....
For that matter, what str8 couple divorces because they can file joint taxes or visit in the hospital?
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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unsui
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Likes it here |
Registered: September 2007
Messages: 338
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Fri, 24 October 2008 19:28] |
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unsui
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Likes it here |
Registered: September 2007
Messages: 338
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Fri, 24 October 2008 18:13] |
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Yes, Michael,
A lot depends on the nature of society and how well the population supports it. In many parts of Europe there is a long tradition of selfless public service and many nurses and teachers among others have still a strong element of it.
There is some self-interest in it too - for example I don't want my neighbours dying of typhoid or cholera since I or my family might catch it too. Nor do I want people with HIV to go untreated....
So that combination of wanting other people to be treated well and self-interest leads me to support the health service here. But I also notice that the cost per head of all the health care in the USA is very much greater than the equivalent cost per head here. And this may be because we save almost all the paperwork and transaction costs of millions of insurance policies and the claims on them.
And in a litigious society where the government doesn't try to cure the excesses of the law (some of which arise from precedent-setting decisions made by wrong-headed courts or state appeal processes) what happens is that some good physicians in the USA cannot afford to practice because the fees needed to cover personal liability insurance are too high for their patients. That doesn't happen here.
It's one of the many reasons why the USA is not a good place to be poor. Mind you few places are, outside Europe (and not all of that).
Love,
Anthony
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unsui
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Likes it here |
Registered: September 2007
Messages: 338
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Fri, 24 October 2008 18:12] |
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