00:00:00.000The fact that marriage in America is on the decline is concerning, but very few people
00:00:04.860understand how deep that problem goes. Recent data shows the dismal marriage numbers in the
00:00:10.360United States. The percentage of married couples, average age at which couples are marrying,
00:00:15.580and the number of children are all in catastrophic decline. The numbers represent a dramatic collapse
00:00:21.280in the institution that serves as the foundation for successful civilizations. Conservatives
00:00:26.640will often place the blame on a lack of individual virtue, and there's plenty of truth to that claim.
00:00:32.560But the most important factors are baked into the structure of our society in a manner that
00:00:37.300Republicans are terrified to address. When a movement refers to itself as conservative,
00:00:44.480you think that the preservation of marriage would be its top priority. However, when marriage does0.78
00:00:50.020receive any attention from conservative pundits and politicians, it's in the form of glib advice
00:00:55.740directed at young men telling them to get out of their parents' basement and stop playing video
00:01:00.360games. Part of the marriage problem is certainly the lack of initiative on the part of young males,
00:01:06.000but this is also the easiest and most cowardly attempt to explain away the issue. Our culture
00:01:11.520encourages placing the blame on young men, who are one of the few groups that can be attacked0.50
00:01:16.040without consequence. The real answer requires taking on far more sacred cows. When conservatives0.94
00:01:22.840are feeling a little more adventurous, they'll admit that some aspects of our economy are
00:01:27.580antithetical to family formation. The fact that the average age of the first-time homeowner is
00:01:32.740now pushing past 40 signals how difficult achieving stability for young families has become.
00:01:38.880College is now required for even the most entry-level jobs, and the cost keeps exploding,
00:01:44.420consuming the capital that once went to starter homes. The costs of healthcare and food continue
00:01:50.080to skyrocket so that most households require two incomes, forcing mothers to work, while the price
00:01:56.320of child care also increases rapidly. The economic issues are real and important, but even they don't
00:02:02.840tell the whole story. Love, duty, and honor are all factors that hold our social bonds together,
00:02:10.180but it's dependence that makes them necessary in the first place and continues to undergird them
00:02:15.360when everything else falls away. Modern people don't like to hear this fact because they believe
00:02:20.760that maximizing freedom and independence is the ultimate goal, but there is a point at which
00:02:26.120autonomy rips society apart. Men are, of course, dependent on many things, but women, due to their0.99
00:02:32.780biological vulnerability, were always directly dependent on men. Women are physically weaker,0.99
00:02:38.860less aggressive, become pregnant, must care for children, and regularly need the direct0.74
00:02:43.600intervention of others to ensure their safety and security. Women couldn't work outside the home1.00
00:02:49.880while pregnant or raising children, so they remained dependent on their husband's income.0.90
00:02:55.400Even in the most restrictive societies, people are going to have sex. We're hardwired to pursue it.
00:03:00.740So the reality was that women and men needed to get married early to secure the safety of mothers
00:03:06.480and children. Family formation was part of the rhythm of life. It was largely unavoidable,
00:03:11.980And this kept marriage rates among young people relatively high.
00:03:16.580This meant that young men and young women naturally grew up.
00:03:20.880They had this determined track through life, this crucible that forced them to put the needs of others before themselves and to understand themselves in relation to a broader society.
00:03:32.600It made them responsible for another human life, not just materially, but they were required to bring it up, to teach it morally.
00:03:40.660It brought them a deeper understanding of life and made them more serious and well-rounded.
00:03:47.000This was, again, nothing that they voluntarily entered, really.
00:03:50.720This is something that they just kind of had to go through because this was the reality of how life progressed.
00:03:57.520This was a rhythm of life, something that was unescapable.
00:04:01.620Now, once birth control and abortion made pregnancy a choice instead of an inevitability, everything shifted.0.90
00:04:09.000Single women became a larger part of society,
00:04:12.000and the state expanded its reach to provide them with broader physical and economic protections.0.97
00:04:18.040The newly emancipated woman needed her own stream of income,0.99
00:04:22.040and corporations were more than happy to provide it.1.00
00:04:25.100Women doubled the labor pool, driving down wages.1.00
00:04:27.760In large bureaucratic organizations where compliance is key,1.00
00:04:31.600the more agreeable nature of women is considered an asset in a way1.00
00:04:35.260that it would not be in a more entrepreneurial economy.
00:04:38.480When you travel well, your KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ticket takes you to more than just your destination.
00:04:45.860It takes you to front row views, voices lost in the music and new shared memories.
00:04:51.840And when the last song fades, the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines crew is here to ensure your journey home hits all the right notes.