New at Reason

David Weigel | June 23, 2006

Julian Sanchez reviews two books on marriage and debunks the frenzy and hysteria now dominating talk about the institution.

Comments

|6.23.06 @ 3:54PM|#

Very good post-lunch reading. Now I'm going to have to look into those books.

|6.23.06 @ 5:32PM|#

Excellent review of two excellent books. I particularly recommend "Promises I Can Keep," although the Coontz book is, at least in my opinion, the better-written. "P.I.C.K," however, has the more interesting argument and evidence. Until we understand better the day to day lives of the underclass, there's no way on earth we can make any kind of policy, public or not, to change the aspects that need it. Go buy and read both books.

|6.23.06 @ 6:35PM|#

Really nice review, Julian. Lots of interesting points, and many surprises.

brian423|6.23.06 @ 10:55PM|#

A good article overall, but Sanchez commits the dreadfully common fallacy of confusing correlation with causation by implying that the experience of growing up without both biological parents causes the problems for children that he lists. Judith Rich Harris, the Copernicus of child development, specifically disproves this chain of cause and effect in her book The Nurture Assumption. Every libertarian should listen to Harris. Like Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and marijuana, divorce is opposed partly out of faulty reasoning and crude moralism. I wonder how many miserable families stay together because of an anti-divorce guilt trip, even though a divorce might, on balance, do all their members good.

|6.24.06 @ 3:54PM|#

brian423,

Her knew book "No Two Alike" will rock your world too.

She is often quoted by Steven Pinker. This is how I first found out about her.

Larry A|6.24.06 @ 6:13PM|#

Government seems to run on two premises.

1. There must be a policy government can implement to solve any problem.
2. Therefore problems must have causes that can be addressed by a government policy.

The Wine Commonsewer|6.25.06 @ 10:06PM|#

Julian is right, I've seen about 6,000 marriages on the beach in Maui in the last three weeks. All seem to be between men and women, though in some cases there was a little doubt. You know what I mean, the bride looked like Uncle Susie. Insensitive I know, but we still wished them well and smiled.

Back to the beach............

|6.26.06 @ 10:40AM|#

all rhetoric aside, there is no better predictor in the USA i am aware of for social pathology (ie "bad behavior") than being born out of wedlock/to a single mother

period

whether it's crime, crime victimization, low income, lack of income quintile mobility, etc. etc. etc. the link is too strong to ignore

|6.26.06 @ 3:56PM|#

"the link is too strong to ignore"

Ignore? I thought I devoted a rather lengthy paragraph early in the piece to talking about exactly that link.