I don’t have a lot of time tonight, so I’ll point you to a great list of 14 reasons for having a Singles Week. Some articles I want to explore further (from #8): “Marriage: the good, the bad, and the greedy” and “Till Marriage Do Us Part.” Both of these point to support of my hypothesis that marriage – at least in its current form – is detrimental of society at large. The you-are-my-all approach to a relationship automatically devalues other relationships. Connections is what makes society strong. The (almost) exclusive focus on one other person is also rather unstable – you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. And it leaves a lot of needs unmet – needs that could be met by a larger community but are now instead being met through consumption.

Before you think I blame all of our problems today on marriage, let me assure you that I think that our current problems are way too big to have been caused by one thing. At a minimum, there are interacting personal and system factors. Marriage might be one way the personal and a societal sphere are bridged.