Wednesday, October 08, 2003
The German philosopher Nietzsche made a grim prediction about the family in 1886: "‘The family will be slowly ground into a random collection of individuals,’ haphazardly bound together ‘in the common pursuit of selfish ends.’" (Letter of August 1886, in
Friederich Merzbacher, Liebe, Ehe, Und Familie 113 (1958))
The tragedy is, we are seeing it come to pass. It is already effectively the Government's view of the family, as witness this little gem from the Families Commission Bill:
The New Zealand government seems determined to kill marriage. There ought to be marching in the street over what's been happening (and what's still to come), but we are suffering from the "boiling frog" syndrome. Things started deteriorating in the 1970s, but have really been hotting up over the past two years. Here's an article to get you started.
Friederich Merzbacher, Liebe, Ehe, Und Familie 113 (1958))
The tragedy is, we are seeing it come to pass. It is already effectively the Government's view of the family, as witness this little gem from the Families Commission Bill:
Section 10 Diversity of New Zealand families and family groups
(1) In the exercise and performance of its powers and functions, the Commission must have regard to the kinds, structures, and diversity of families and family groups.
(2) In this section, family group means a family group (for example, an extended family)---
(a) whose members have biological relationships or legal relationships with one another; or
(b) whose members have significant psychological attachments to one another.
The New Zealand government seems determined to kill marriage. There ought to be marching in the street over what's been happening (and what's still to come), but we are suffering from the "boiling frog" syndrome. Things started deteriorating in the 1970s, but have really been hotting up over the past two years. Here's an article to get you started.
