• perestroika@slrpnk.net
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    8 months ago

    IMHO, there’s two sides to this coin: past and present. The following few paragraphs are from an Eastern European perspective, so it might vary with local history. I’ll write it regardless however. :)

    The history of marriage over here - is that of passing down ownership of resources. For feudal lords and merchants, marriage was about passing down power and wealth - it was strictly regulated for them, and often quite an oppressive institution (we can guess which gender it was more oppressive for, and which gender was considered a resource).

    For peasants, it was a bit loose. The church had its laws but knew well - peasants didn’t give a damn. They didn’t have much wealth or power to pass down to children, and in some times and lands, the only inheritance was serfdom or slavery. So peasants, ironically, while being unfree people, had more freedom in their relationships…

    …but they were not model people, and had their quirks. Often enough, marriage was entered when pregnancy had started. Peasants wanted to be sure that a couple was fertile, and did the formalities when that was sure enough. Not so late as to get the church pissed off, but not when the guys in fancy robes said it must be done.

    Among anarchists, knowing this history, it is not uncommon to shy away from marriage, considering it a bit freaky, a bit like taking church and state to the bedroom, where there ought be two people.

    Regardless, I know anarchists who have married. Especially when they were from different lands.

      • perestroika@slrpnk.net
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        8 months ago

        Wow, where in the world and how (without compromising anonymity or operational security :P ) can one get access to health care via marriage?

        • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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          8 months ago

          I worked for some big financial corporation. She was a dog groomer. By the time she was diagnosed she was $10k in debt. After we got married she got access to my healthcare and only then could she afford to get treatment.

            • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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              8 months ago

              Once she told me I looked up men that stuck with relationships after diagnosis… And struggled to find anyone. Then I looked up support groups. Changing the locks after diagnosis, not picking them up from the hospital and blocking their numbers. Breaking up completely healthy relationships, over something they had no control over. Scared the shit out of me. We weren’t serious before that but I didn’t want her to have to go through that. Let alone not be able to afford treatment… That’s a whole other horror story…