On May 8, North Carolina passed an amendment banning same-sex
marriages, essentially relegating homosexuals to second class citizens. The
amendment reaffirmed that homosexuals don’t have the right to marriage -
alienating them from certain economic and political rights. It’s nice to see
the U.S. still allows discrimination by popular demand.
Forbidden from the institution of marriage, homosexual couples are
not allowed many of the rights afforded to married couples, including:
·
Income tax benefits and joint tax filing
·
Insurance of some kinds
·
Parentage
·
Social security benefits
·
Medical power of attorney
·
Estate taxes and inheritance
Plus many more! A total of 1,049
federal rights are awarded to married heterosexuals that are denied to
homosexual couples. Yet in spite of the limited rights of homosexual citizens,
another type of “citizen” is awarded a seemingly unrestrained number of rights.
Rights that when exercised, actually harm other citizens.
The Supreme Court‘s now infamous campaign finance ruling, passed
in January 2010, reasserted that corporations are citizens. As citizens, they
have the same rights as human citizens, including the right to “free speech.”A
corporation can donate an unlimited amount of speech ($$) to campaigns in order
to influence the outcome of political campaigns.
Flashback to 2008. Remember credit default swaps? Corporations
essentially took out life insurance policies on one another. If a company
defaulted on its debt, policyholders make money. Speculation was rampant, and
the spider web of financial relationships exacerbated the financial crisis. Ultimately,
ordinary citizens paid the price by bailing out corporations heavily involved
in CDS trading. Corporations can take out insurance policies on each other with
no insurable interest, but life and health insurance policies for homosexual
couples can be difficult to acquire.
Corporations can merge or form joint ventures (~marry) and enter
into legal contracts with one another at will. If only all citizens could be afforded
the same rights. Marriage is simply a legal contract between two people,
regardless of the sexes involved. It confers certain benefits, as mentioned
above, like insurance, the ability to make medical decisions, and own (?)
children. It’s unfortunate that in today’s world, businesses are treated better
than some citizens.
Maybe one day human citizens will be equal to corporate citizens and
can receive the same benefits. Will our rights eventually catch up with the rights of
corporations? If so, perhaps someday polygamous marriages will be allowed. It
doesn’t sound so bad, when you think about it. If consenting citizens enter into
a multi-party contract, it’s not harming anyone. It’s just like those
corporations creating joint ventures and owning life insurance policies on each
other. And imagine - with more (and more complex) divorces, this would mean a
big payday for lawyers. Perhaps polygamous marriages could help the struggling
industry.
