I was surprised to find something interesting today in the field of marriage and morals. Bush is pushing marriage to those on welfare as a way to better times. In all the talk about the benefits or detriments of marriage, or of its morality versus other familial arrangements, proponents always seem to argue that marriage is a cornerstone. But what is it a cornerstone of? A balanced society? A moral society? Maybe, but why?

Marriage is the cornerstone of self-discipline.

Marriage is where people really learn self-abnegation, self-discipline, and compromise. They also learn responsibility and cooperation, although these are learned in the workplace as well. People who internalize these lessons have a stabilizing effect on their surrounding community, and are more likely to be self-sufficient. Taxes can be low then, because government is not saddled with as many extra responsibilities.

Consider software systems: if there are 3000 clients and one server, and there is a task could be performed on either client or server, where should it be performed? If each client can easily handle the one task, the server may still have a very hard time handling 3000 such tasks simultaneously. Therefore, usually whatever citizens can do to be self-sufficient (rather than depend on the government) leads to increased efficiency and prosperity for society. I believe education falls under the same category of tasks, but I must go now... ;)