WeDo Marriage: New Thinking, New Marriage

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open your mind…

to what some innovative thinkersare saying about the future of marriage.


meet

Gary S. BeckerGary is a professor.Actually, Gary is two professors.

•Professor of•Economics

•Professor of•Sociology

at the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago


Some books written or co-written by Gary:

Social Economics (Belknap Press, 2000), The Economics of Life(McGraw-Hill, 1997), Accounting for Tastes, (Harvard University Press, 1996), A Treatise on the Family (Harvard University Press, 1981), The Economic Approach to Human Behavior (University Of Chicago Press, 1976), Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis (University Of Chicago Press,1975) and The Allocation of Time and Goods Over the Life Cycle (National Bureau of Economic Research, 1975)

Gary likes …to keep busy.


"There were only a few books in our house. After my father lost most of his sight, I had the task of reading him stock quotations and other reports on financial developments.Perhaps that stimulated my interest in economics."

Gary grew up in

Brooklyn, New York.

In 1992, the boy from Brooklyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.


all over the world.So Gary is now famous


But there’s more.

Once a month Gary writes a column for a magazine that is read by top business people and academics around the world.

In December 1997 Gary’s monthly column was entitled:

“Why Every Married Couple Should Sign a Contract.”

Let’s read what Gary said >>


“A proposal: replace divorce laws with compulsorymarriage contracts.”

“Such contracts would require men and women to assume responsibility for the main terms of their marriage. They would allow couples to tailor the terms of marriage to their particular needs.”

“Contracts permit men and women entering into marriage to make a greater commitment to each other than under present no-fault divorce laws”.

Business Week, December 29, 1997.


“Experience would lead to various standard marriage-contract forms that consider the most common adjustments as conditions change.”

“(Contracts) would force all couples to address the consequences of a breakup before rather than afterwards. Little more can be asked from any legal arrangement.”

what Gary thinks...



There is little reason why judges should retain their current involvement in marriage and divorce, the most personal and intimate of all relations.

The government's role would be radically cut back if couples must set the terms of these important decisions.”


“Marriage contracts would not simply be additions to divorce laws, for they would essentiallyreplace these laws.”

a big idea from Gary...


Gary is not alone.


meet Wendy McElroy

Recent pic of Wendy from her personal website.

Wendy McElroylives in Canada with her husband.


“The US marriage rate has

declined over 40%over the last 40 years to an historic low.

Almost half of the adults in America are unmarried and, for the first time, single-person households outnumber married families with children.

A glut of books and articles is suddenly declaring marriage to be either obsolete or rediscovered.”

Some books from Wendy:The Debates of Liberty(Lexington Books, 2002) Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century(Independent Institute, 1999)

Fox News, July 16, 2002.

what Wendy thinks...


“Why is marriage declining? I believe one reason is because marriage has become

a three-way contract between two people and the government, which is regulated by the state from wedding vows to divorce decrees.”

Wendy McElroyJournalist, Fox News contributor, author and lecturer.


more from Wendy…


Wendy is currently a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute.

a big idea from Wendy…

“Marriageshould be privatized.

Let people make their own marriage contracts according to their conscience, religion and common sense. Their diversity shouldn't affect their legality any more than the diversity of other contracts makes them unenforceable.”



meet David BoazDavid BoazBefore becoming executive vice president of the Cato Institute, David was director of the the US Council for a Competitive Economy.


“Treat (marriage) like any other enforceable contract (that spells) out the parties' respective rights and obligations.

The state may be called upon to enforce it, but the parties define the terms.

Marriage contracts could be as individually tailored as other contracts are in our diverse world.

Individual churches, could make their own rules about which marriages they would bless.”

Slate magazine, April 25, 1997.

David is a prominent commentator and a leading authority on domestic policy issues.

what David thinks...


“As governments around the world contemplate theprivatization of everything from electricity to social security, why not privatize that most personal and intimate of institutions, marriage?

Let’s get the government out of marriage and allow individuals to make their own marriage contracts, as befits a secular, individualist republic at the dawn of the information age”.

David's articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and theLos Angeles Times.


more from David…


a big idea from David...

“Marriage is an important institution.

The modern mistake is to think that important things must be planned, sponsored, reviewed, or licensed by the government.”

David is a frequentcontributor to shows on ABC, CNN and NPR.



meet James Andrew Miller

James Andrew Miller is also the author ofRunning in Place, a behind-the-scenes look at the US Senate.

James’s book, ‘Live From New York’, inspired the TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset String, staring Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry (above).


what James thinks...

“It seems sadly clear to me that couples, for all their meticulous (pre-nuptial) planning, overlook and ignore the most important point of all.

Dividing up money and assets after a marriage falls apart (is) often nothing compared with the agony and emotional torment of a custody battle –dividing up the children.

Packing up the children's backpacks and preparing them to be picked up by a former spouse can be agonizing even in the best of circumstances.”

James has written for publications such as the New York Times, Life and Newsweek.

New York Times, July 16, 2007.


“Money is, after all, only money –you can make it back, you can do with less of it if you need to, you can even file for bankruptcy.

But children are not commodities that can be replaced.

Some couples have found that by the time the court has heard their child custody case, many of the precious dollars divided between them in their prenup have found their way to the lawyers.”


more from James…

James was executive producer of two prime-time TVseries, DC and Brimstone.


a big idea from James...

“With a

pre-arranged custody scheduleoutlined before marriage, children wouldn't haveto witness their parents arguing about the details, or, worse, be required to testify in court.

Besides, conversations about custody between two newly engaged people could give them both a window on what their future spouse will be like –and what he or she will expect as a parent.”


James scripted the 2001 movie, Deep Blue.


meet Jamie Alan Aycock

Jamie Alan Aycock is a associate at Wiley Rein LLP, a Washington law firm.

Jamie’s Washington office. From Google Maps.


what Jamie thinks...

“This Article proposes that the law shouldenable individuals to make choicesthat further their particular vision of the family,without imposing that vision upon the whole of society.

Under this approach, couples could design termsto further different types of relationship goals.Because most individuals begin marriage hoping and believing that it will last, extending contract principles gives them the tools to actually accomplish their lofty goals.”

Jamie is a graduate ofHarvard LawSchool.

Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy,September 2006


“In the commercial context, contracts are an indispensable means for securing commitments.

As marriages have become increasingly likely to end, people have become less likely to marry in the first place. No-fault divorce allows either party to unilaterally terminate the marriage for any reason.

Advancing contract principles amounts only to legal enforcement of the terms to which a couple agrees apart from any state influence or endorsement.”


more from Jamie…

And Jamie is a graduate of Cornell University.


“The proposed marriage regime would simply shift the law from favouring those whose long-term interests are served by non-enforcement of precommitments to favouring those whose long-term interests are served by enforcement.Although there may be a small minority that would opt for a less exacting (non-binding) marriage relationship, it is difficult to imagine that many people would choose an explicitly ‘second class’ kind of relationship.”

a big idea from Jamie...


Jamie also served as Briefing Attorney to Justice NathanL. Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court.


it’s time for a quick recap...

In some prominent media outlets, someinnovativeminds…

…are re-thinking marriagefor the 21st century.


new thinking, new marriage


Got time forone morenew thinkeron marriage?


meet Colin PA Jones

Colin PA Jones is an Associate Professor of Law at DoshishaUniversity, Kyoto, Japan

Colin (above left) with student.


Japan is a country that never seems torun out of bright ideas

DoshishaUniversity is a prestigious institution with 24,000 students.

But Japan is running out of…

people


the story in numbers

From:Japan’s Death of Birth,Russell Redenbaughand Natalia Davis,(Lexington Issue Brief, August 3, 2002)

At DoshishaUniversity Colinteaches Anglo-American law.


“When Nishiki Junior High opened half a century ago,Fukuyo Suzuki, then a young mother, remembers joining other parents on a warm May afternoon to plant pink azaleas in the schoolyard. The azaleas are still here. The school, which closed six years ago because of a shortage of children, now houses a center for the elderly.

Like one in four men in Nishiki, Fukuyo’s son remains single and childless. ‘Now, I hear our elementary school is going to close, too’, she said. ‘It’s so sad for us.’

‘Children are vanishing from our lives.’ ”

Washington Post, March 3, 2005.

the story of one village

Colin grew up in Canada, and now divides his time between the US and Japan.


what Colin thinks...

“Missing from the population debate is the experience of fathers who are shocked to find that the family court system cannot (or will not) protect their precious investment of parental love when a marriage fails.”

Colin attended Duke Law Schoolin the US, graduating in international and comparative law.


For those who have experienced such tragedies, it would be unsurprising if some concluded that there is simply

too much pain and emotional risk associated with marriage and parenting.Small wonder then, that many people choose not to get married, or to not have children if they do.

The price of failure is simply too high.”

The Japan Times, July 18, 2006.

more from Colin…

Colin also holds a degree degree in Oriental Languages and Literature from the University of California.


An example from Colin…

“We judge that it will be best for the child that the (parent)pray from the shadows for his healthy upbringing…

If worried about the child, ask through others, secretly watch from behind a wall, and be satisfied with what is heard about the way he is growing up.

Acting in accordance with parental emotions, even if they are based on parental love, will cause the child misfortune.

From Family Court Cases 18-7-30,Tokyo High Court.Cited by Colin PA Jones, Japan Law Workshop 2005, University of Washington.

Suppressing parental emotions for the sake of one’s childat the times when then should be suppressed, that is the true love of a parent towards a child.”

Colin practised law for over ten years in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo.


Subject to certain statutory constraints, business people have long been free to form whatever sort of partnership they felt appropriate to their needs. Why not make the same possible for marriage?

Couples entering into marriage should be able to use a partnership agreement that is tailored to their own circumstances and aspirations, and that reflects the values and expectations that they themselves attach to marriage.”

“A fundamental problem with marriage is that it is a

monopoly product supplied by the government.

a big idea from Colin...

San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 2006.


a bigger idea from Colin (1)...

“Of course, it will be impractical to expect everyone to be able to draft a workable partnership agreementthat will govern a (hopefully) lifelong relationship.

Off-the-shelf marital partnership kits would be developed by private enterprises to fill this need.

Marital corporations would be a huge boost to the multibillion-dollar wedding industry, while opening up a vast range of possible business opportunities throughout society.


Colin is a member of the bars of New York and Guam, and Palau.


a bigger idea from Colin (2)...

“Marital corporations that cater to all sectors of society would turn marriage into an even bigger business than it already is.

This is usually what happens when you offer consumers more choice.”


Colin has published widely on a variety of legal subjects as well as on legal philosophy.


‘Thank you’ to some innovativeminds…

…for sharing their new thinkingon marriage for the 21st century.

it’s time to say...


actions > words

“Right nowit's only a notion, but I think I can get the money tomake it into a concept, andlater turn itinto an idea.”

from ‘Annie Hall’, Woody Allen (1977)


say hello to…

The world’s first marital corporation.

WeDo Marriage® Limited


the most powerful motivator: meaning

from ‘The Art of the Start’, Guy Kawasaki.

"The best reason to start an organization is

to make meaning.Meaning is not about money, power or prestige. It's about creating a product or service that can:

•Make the world a better place

•Right a terrible wrong

•Prevent the end of something good.

•Increase the quality of life”

Previously with Apple Computers, Guy Kawasaki is the author of eight business books and the MD of venture capital firm garage.com.


our mission…


we’re getting busy…


deadlines, deadlines…

WeDo Marriage® Limited will begin commercial operationin Ireland and the United Kingdom

on 1 February 2008 –in time for St. Valentine's Day.

In the following 24 months WeDo Marriage will roll out in North America, continental Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.


and finally …

“The Stone Age did not end

because people ran out of stones.

It ended because it was timefor a re-think

about how we live.”

William McDonough


a disclaimer

Opinions cited in the ‘New Thinking, New Marriage’ slideshow are purely for informational purposes only.

Our sole intention is to demonstrate the gathering intellectual support for the concept of marriage based not on family law but on contract law.

No individual named in ‘New Thinking, New Marriage’ is associated financially or otherwise with WeDo Marriage® Limited or necessarily endorses the particular services offered by WeDo Marriage® Limited.

text & picture credits >>


text credits5: Gary S. Becker quoted from the website of the Nobel Institute (nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1992/becker-autobio.html). 8, 9 and 10: Gary S. Becker quoted from Business Week, December 29, 1997. Archived at the University of Chicago (home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/Businessweek/BW/1997/12_29_1997.pdf). 13, 14 and 15:Wendy McElroy quoted from Fox News, July 16, 2002 (www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,57749,00.html). 17, 18 and 19: David Boaz quoted from Slate magazine, April 25, 1997 (www.slate.com/id/2440/). 21, 22 and 23: James Andrew Miller quoted from The New York Times, July 16, 2007. Reproduced on the website of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (www.marriagedebate.com/2007/07/three-parents-better-than-two-plus.htm). 25, 26 and 27: Jamie Alan Aycock quoted from The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, September, 2006 (www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30No1_Aycockonline.pdf). 34: Quoted from article by Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, March 3, 2005 (www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2548-2005Mar2.html) 35 and 36: Colin PA Jones quoted from The Japan Times, July 18, 2006 (search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20060718z2.html). 37: Colin PA Jones quoted from Japan Law Workshop 2005, University of Washington (law.anu.edu.au/anjel/documents/ResearchPublications/Jones_ChildCustody.pdf). 38, 39 and 40: Colin PA Jones quoted from The San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 2006 (sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/22/ING6FGOLVA1.DTL). 42: Quoted from the movie Annie Hall, MGM Studios, 1997. 44: Quoted from excerpt of Guy Kawasaki’s book, The Art of Start, reproduced on Diego Rodriguez’s Metacool blog website (metacool.typepad.com/metacool/files/1.01.ArtOfTheStart.pdf).


picture credits3: Photograph of Gary S. Becker from the website of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago (www.chicagogsb.edu/capideas/apr06/1.aspx). 4: Cover images of Gary S. Becker's books from the author's profile pages on the website of the University of Chicago (home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/Books/books.html). 5: Photograph of Gary S. Becker from the news section of the website of the University of Chicago (experts.uchicago.edu/experts.php?id=5). Nobel images from the website of the Nobel Foundation (nobelprize.org). Brooklyn Bridge image from the public collection of Pete Williams (www.flickr.com/photos/petewilliams/312316443/). 6: Cover image of book by Gary S. Becker, translated into Japanese, from the news section of the website of Hitotsubashi University, Japan (www.hit-u.ac.jp/function/outside/news/2005/0523.htm). 7: Cover images of Business Week magazine from New Economist blog website (neweconomist.blogs.com). 11: Photograph of Gary S. Becker from the website of Business Week magazine (www.businessweek.com/images/viewpoint_new/becker.jpg). 12: Photograph of Wendy McElroy from her personal website (www.wendymcelroy.com/vesuvio.jpg). 13, 14 and 15: Photograph of Wendy McElroy from the website of iFeminists (www.ifeminists.com/about/). 16, 17, 18 and 19: Photograph of David Boaz from the website of the Cato Institute(www.cato.org/people/images/hires_new/dboaz.jp). 20, 21, 22 and 23: Photograph of James Andrew Miller from the website of publishers, TW Bookmark (www.twbookmark.com/authors/93/2271/critical_praise.html). 20: Photograph of Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry from the website of MeeVee (blog.meevee.com/my_weblog/2006/08/its_easy_to_ima.html). 24: Satellite image of Washington, DC, from Google Maps (maps.google.com). 24, 25, 26 and 27: Photograph of Jamie Alan Aycock from the website of Wiley Rein (www.wileyrein.com/directory.cfm?pf=1&sp=bio&tp=article&attorney&ID=1093&isCurrent=1). 28: Coffee mug image created using CafePress. Image montage from websites of named media outlets. 30: Image of Sky TV remote controller copyright of Sky TV. 31: Photograph of Colin PA Jones from the East Asian Legal Studies Center section of the website of the University of Wisconsin (www.law.wisc.edu/ealsc/scholarl.html). 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39 and 40: Photograph of Colin PA Jones with student from the website of Doshisha University, Japan (www1.doshisha.ac.jp/~lskeisei/organization/organization.html). 32: Images of SuperMario, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP, Sony DCR SR100 Digital Video Camera and the Toyota Prius are copyright of their respective owners. 33: Graphs reproduced from Japan’s Death of Birth, Russell Redenbaugh and Natalia Davis, Lexington Issue Brief, August 3, 2002. Published on the website of Kairos, Inc (www.kairos-inc.com/Investing/IB%20on%20Japan.7.16.pdf). 42: Annie Hall movie poster copyright of MGM Studios and reproduced from the company’s official website at (www.mgm.com/title_clip.php?title_star=ANNIEHAL#). 44: Photograph of Guy Kawasaki from his personal blog (blog.guykawasaki.com). 46: Wexford All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions (1956) from Leinster GAA website (leinster.gaa.ie/photo_1950_1960s.htm).


Questions?

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Transcript of WeDo Marriage: New Thinking, New Marriage