Quote:
Originally Posted by OldGiants
I don't know the answer. However, I do have questions that have not really been addressed in any debate I've read.
First, I understand the feel-good, we need to make gays equal before the law feelings. However, they are feelings, not truth. Gay couples would be happier if they could marry (and divorce, of course) like man-woman marriages. So? I'd be happier with food stamps, but what is the benefit to the public of me having them?
So, what is the social contract here? What do I, as an ordinary member of the public, get out of this deal? With a traditional marriage, the government gives tax breaks and other support opportunities to a couple to raise children. Fair enough, kids cost money and time. I'm willing to help you and yours since I got help for mine and ours.
I don't see raising children as a the most significant grievance in the gay marriage debate, so I don't understand why giving tax breaks to gays is needed. Fairness and equality is something I've known as a farce since I --the whitest, fat-est , perhaps poorest, kid in HS in 1968 -- applied for a United Negro College Fund scholarship (on the SAT test form. I just checked the box.) and would have won one if only I met the racial criteria. That was a shit-storm of outrage at me for doing it.
So again, what is the public benefit, or benefit to/for the general public, of allowing gay marriage?
I truly don't see that part of the deal.
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I'm white, I don't see why blacks should be able to use children as a deduction on their income tax forms. I mean it doesn't do anything for me since I'm white.
I'm also a male, there is nothing in it for me if women are allowed to vote. I've heard Asians make bad drivers so not sure how it benefits me to allow them to obtain a drivers license.
Civil rights aren't usually a "how does it benefit me?" proposition. If you're arguing that all marriage benefits are a waste and shouldn't be given, I understand. But saying that if things don't benefit me they shouldn't be given to others is no different than the examples I gave.