Progress Down Under

The United States is far behind many other countries in so many respects. We like to call ourselves beacons of freedom, but with reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act just around the corner, we appear to be leaders in folksy fascism only.

Australia, on the other hand, is doing something about vindictive gender feminist legislation. They are making sweeping changes to their Family Law Act. Included are increased rights for non-custodial parents and penalties for false accusations of domestic violence.

Meanwhile, Seattle along with the rest of Washington State is moving in the opposite direction. Mayor Nickels – Protector of Nipples is working on his Soviet-styled five year strategic plan to “end domestic violence.” This plan pretty much puts to rest the debate about whether men and fathers still have rights within Seattle’s city limits: they don’t. And, the state is now taxing marriages in order to pay feminist madrassa educated advocates who work hard to end as many of them as they can.

All of this adds up to declining marriage rates, increasing divorces, and more than half of the region's children living in single parent homes (primarily single mother homes). This is particularly the case in King County. As with all markets (and there is a market for marriage), government involvement creates ugly and unnatural distortions.

So much for silly claims of “livability."