Before I start getting hate e-mails, I’ll concede the following: No, I’m not married; Yes, I’m young, and no, ice water does not run through my veins. I often have ideas that I would call vanguard, radical, revolutionary, and more fittingly, Peters-esque. These are the ideas I like to share – usually in private. But we're all family, what's a thought among friends.
Whether you decide on getting married or not should be an individual decision, but if you’re going to do something, do it right. Marriage isn’t what it used to be, and you can blame who you want. Some blame women’s liberation, others blame the Divorce Act of 1968, ‘no-fault divorce’, and so on and so on. I blame people. More specifically, people not thinking it through. But here I am to change all that.
First, make getting married easier. Yes, easier. Decrease the cost of marriage licences, offer tax incentives and tax deduction eligibilities for marriage expenses. Second, give significant tax breaks to married couples. The longer you’re married, the more your tax rate decreases. Third, six months prior to marriage, the couples have to enter marriage preparation courses for the preceeding six months prior to the marriage. Fourth, and most importantly, make divorce costly. Now I know you’re asking yourself, “make divorce costly?” Yes. Instead of all that money going into the pockets of lawyers, tax it. I don’t mean a novelty tax of 5-10%, I mean a Sin Tax. 25-30% of the couple’s net assets. Finally, prior to divorce, mandatory reconciliation courses and prior to any court filing, mandatory mediation.
Now of course, if abuse and cruelty have taken place and can be proven than by all means, the tax of the assets could be apportioned at the discretion of the courts or the government, and perhaps by the mediator.
Now before this is used against me and taken grossly out of context, let’s remember that this is simply an idea. I know that it seems that getting in is easy, and getting out is hard, but such is our lot in life. Actions matter, and so do words. There must be consequences when both of these are broken. The only way for a society to make itself better, is if the parts that make up the whole are of the finest material.
Whether you decide on getting married or not should be an individual decision, but if you’re going to do something, do it right. Marriage isn’t what it used to be, and you can blame who you want. Some blame women’s liberation, others blame the Divorce Act of 1968, ‘no-fault divorce’, and so on and so on. I blame people. More specifically, people not thinking it through. But here I am to change all that.
First, make getting married easier. Yes, easier. Decrease the cost of marriage licences, offer tax incentives and tax deduction eligibilities for marriage expenses. Second, give significant tax breaks to married couples. The longer you’re married, the more your tax rate decreases. Third, six months prior to marriage, the couples have to enter marriage preparation courses for the preceeding six months prior to the marriage. Fourth, and most importantly, make divorce costly. Now I know you’re asking yourself, “make divorce costly?” Yes. Instead of all that money going into the pockets of lawyers, tax it. I don’t mean a novelty tax of 5-10%, I mean a Sin Tax. 25-30% of the couple’s net assets. Finally, prior to divorce, mandatory reconciliation courses and prior to any court filing, mandatory mediation.
Now of course, if abuse and cruelty have taken place and can be proven than by all means, the tax of the assets could be apportioned at the discretion of the courts or the government, and perhaps by the mediator.
Now before this is used against me and taken grossly out of context, let’s remember that this is simply an idea. I know that it seems that getting in is easy, and getting out is hard, but such is our lot in life. Actions matter, and so do words. There must be consequences when both of these are broken. The only way for a society to make itself better, is if the parts that make up the whole are of the finest material.
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