Quoted: Quoted: So what has changed in 2 generations? Economics - After HS you used to be able to get a decent job, now all you can get is a job a McDonalds. notice that most people here are advocating getting married after college, which is when a person can now finally get a decent job. Life Expectancy - People live longer now so there is less need to hurry up and get on with life. Immaturity - Young people now are much more immature. Dogooders have been constantly trying to protect the children from the evils of the world, but all it ends up doing is making them incapable of dealing with problems when they do come of age.

I think it has to do with maturity and social norms than anything else.  Back in the old days there wern't so many distractions like there are today.  Because kids wern't distracted they focused on life and consequently grew up faster.  A lot of homes today are managed by parents who're self absorbed,  so instead of "parenting" they'd rather give their kids a playstation.  How many young people who grow up in these circumstances have the maturity to hold a marriage togather?  

I tell my daughters they can start thinking about it when they're thirty.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: So what has changed in 2 generations? Economics - After HS you used to be able to get a decent job, now all you can get is a job a McDonalds. notice that most people here are advocating getting married after college, which is when a person can now finally get a decent job. Life Expectancy - People live longer now so there is less need to hurry up and get on with life. Immaturity - Young people now are much more immature. Dogooders have been constantly trying to protect the children from the evils of the world, but all it ends up doing is making them incapable of dealing with problems when they do come of age. I'd be willing to bet that has more to do with it than anything. Wrong, the thing that has the most to do with it is SEX. The sexual revolution changed the moral standard in this country. Women the engage in sexual activity before they are married, are not seen as loose women, sluts, etc., anymore. Wait are you suggesting that in the "Good Old Days" or Pre 1960s morality girls being sexually active at 16 was the norm?

Sex and economics were really intertwined in earlier generations.  Pre-industrial revolution, the primary source of wealth was land and things grown on land.  Land was passed down through generations so it was important to ensure that the person getting the land was actually your child.  This was doubly important if the land was connected to a title (i.e. a principality).  This placed a premium on virgin women, the thought being that a promiscuous woman before marriage would be promiscuous afterwards, and thus raise the chance that the land would be passed down to another man's child.  As our ancestors were not innocents, the concluded that the best way of ensuring virgin brides was to marry them early before they would begin experimenting on their own.  Thus, for instance, the typical Roman upper-class marriage was often between a man in his late 20s, early 30s and a girl around 14-16.  This system lasted for thousands of years, so many of our laws and customs originate in it.  

Quoted: Wait are you suggesting that in the "Good Old Days" or Pre 1960s morality girls being sexually active at 16 was the norm?

For most of human history, "sexually active at 16" has been the norm. People didn't even live much past thirty until a few thousand years ago.

Quoted: One of the things that amazes me in the course of studying US history, particularly from the 1930-50s, is just how common it was for girls to get married at the age of 16. While I of course have come across many married at younger ages 13-15 those examples seem to be too few to be an accepted norm. I imagine even in 1930 a 14 year old bride raised some eyebrows. And of course there are plenty of girls who got married in the 17-19 age range but it seems like most were married by 18 and 16 was a rather common age for marriage. 50 years later I cannot recall ANYONE I know personally who was married at 16. In fact I'm hard pressed to think of anyone I know who got married at 18. Most girls I know waited until their early 20s to get married. And these days a 16 year old bride would definitely raise eyebrows. So what has changed in 2 generations? And would you let your 16 year old daughter get married?

in the middle ages 12-13 was accepted marrying age and often times a girl and boy would be officialy married as todlers but wouldnt consumate until they had reached at least 12.

hard to believe aint it?

One of the girls I work with was married at age 15, she is only a few years older than me.  (I am 29).  That marriage lasted about 5 years.

I got married at 19, looking back it was a dumb thing to do.  At least I was smart enough to tell the husband that we were too young to start a family when he wanted to start having babies right away.

My daughter is 4 months old.  I think she will be ready for marriage in about 27 years or so.

I think now that divorce is such an easy way out for so many and is fairly acceptable, there is much less motivation for couples to "just get over it" when it comes to their personal selfish needs and wants.  Gender roles are now ill defined, and people are umwilling to accept their lot in life unless it is brings them entitlements of some sort.

It is my personal belief that one can learn to love just about anyone, and that many are caught in the trap that there is "someone for me" out there that completes them or is a soulmate or some stupid shit like that.  Because of this I find that many young women are in love not with their present partner, but with the feeling of being "in love", which is generally more akin to sexual arousal than anything resembling actual love.   Because of this, people are searching for "magic" and fr another person to make them happy.

I came to the conclusion that it is not my job to make someone happy.  Magic does not fall out my ass.  It is a rare occurance that there is a couple that I meet that are both "in love" and "lustful" towards eachother for any period of time longer than a year or two, such a rare occurence in fact, that I deemed it unreasonable for that to ever happen to me mostly because I am incapable of that level of emotion for such a great length of time.  

True love in marriage is formed from the bonds created by forming a life together and sharing the accomplishments and victories, as well as the defeats together.  Both partners can only give so much, and can give only certain things, but together they can give all.  People learned this at a much younger age 100 years ago, and most were inducted into their life roles at a much younger age.  a farmer's son would most likely be a farmer, a printer's, a printer, etc.  There was much less of this "searching for themselves" than what we have today.

I once stated that my wife and I were like a hammer and nail, She the nail, and I the hammer.  The nail holds everything together whilst the hammer provides the means.  I am sure there are better analogies out there, but that is the one that works for me.

I wouldn't want my daughter to, but my Mom did.

She was married to my dad for 25 years till the good Lord called him up.

Worked OK for them.

Personally, probably not. But, it looks like someone would:

Nebraska man charged for sex with wife, 13 Families support couple, but prosecutor calls union ‘repugnant’ The Associated Press Updated: 6:57 p.m. ET July 26, 2005 LINCOLN, Neb. - A 22-year-old man faces criminal charges in Nebraska for having sex with an underage 13-year-old girl, although he legally married her in Kansas after she became pregnant. The man’s lawyer said the couple, with their families’ support, “made a responsible decision to try to cope with the problem.” Matthew Koso, 22, was charged Monday with first-degree sexual assault, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He was released on $7,500 bail pending an Aug. 17 preliminary hearing. After the girl became pregnant, her mother gave permission in May for Koso to take the young woman to Kansas, which allows minors to get married with parental consent. The girl is now 14 and seven months pregnant. “The idea ... is repugnant to me,” said Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. “These people made the decision to send their ... 14-year-old daughter to Kansas to marry a pedophile.” Kansas law labeled ‘ridiculous’ He said the marriage is valid, thanks to the “ridiculous” Kansas law, “but it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to stand by while a grown man ... has a relationship with a 13-year-old — now 14-year-old — girl.” Bruning, who has said he will seek a second term in 2006, has aggressively prosecuted sex crimes against children since he was elected in 2002 The couple were married in May by a judge in Hiawatha, Kan., just across the state line from Falls City. Nebraska allows people as young as 17 to marry if they have parental consent. Kansas law, however, sets no minimum marriage age, although case law sets the minimum age at 14 for boys and 12 for girls. The marriage must be approved by both parents or guardian, or by a district court judge, said Whitney Watson, spokesman for Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. A judge also must approve if only one parent approves. Koso’s lawyer, Willis Yoesel, said the girl’s mother and Koso’s parents approved of the marriage. He said the girl’s father has not lived with the family for some time. ‘The families are all united’ “It seems to me like they, as much as they could, made a responsible decision to try to cope with the problem,” Yoesel said. “The families are all united in this effort,” Yoesel said. “I don’t know who is complaining. ... What benefit is there to anybody in the prosecution of this young man?” There was no comment from Koso, who does not have a listed telephone number.

ETA: they charged him for having sex with her AFTER she was already pregnant. How do they think she got PREGNANT?????

Quoted: True love in marriage is formed from the bonds created by forming a life together and sharing the accomplishments and victories, as well as the defeats together.  Both partners can only give so much, and can give only certain things, but together they can give all.  People learned this at a much younger age 100 years ago, and most were inducted into their life roles at a much younger age.  a farmer's son would most likely be a farmer, a printer's, a printer, etc.  There was much less of this "searching for themselves" than what we have today. I once stated that my wife and I were like a hammer and nail, She the nail, and I the hammer.  The nail holds everything together whilst the hammer provides the means.  I am sure there are better analogies out there, but that is the one that works for me.

How can you speak of "true love" with a straight face, and not even mention the most essential ingredient: big tits?

Not no , but H*LL No

I'm not a parent, but since you were asking:

HELL NO

Quoted: How can you speak of "true love" with a straight face, and not even mention the most essential ingredient: big tits?

I did not want to be redundant.

If the price is right.

marriage before the age of 27 is insane

How could she marry a man who's phone number is ''Im sorry the number you have reached has been disconnected or is no longer in service.please check the number you are trying to call or try again latter''.

NO

No.