NOTE: I am continuing my articles in blog style over at a new site:
http://PhilosophyOfReality.com
See you there.

Would You Marry a Multi-Millionaire?

I, just like many others, perhaps you, just finished watching a rather unique show on the Fox station. It was a show where a relatively unknown millionaire sat behind a screen and watched what essentially was a beauty pageant. He saw 50 lovely women and almost instantly cut the "herd" down to his favorite ten. Eventually he narrowed it down to one person whom he chose to be his bride.

I wish the two of them luck. I hope they are happy together for the rest of their lives.

But what about you? Would you participate in this kind of a pageant? Would you marry a multi-millionaire?

This question can be given to both women and men. It is entirely conceivable that a female millionaire would do this same thing with male participants.

So what about it, guys. Would you marry a multi-millionaire?

Let me rephrase the question a bit for both men and women:

Would you marry a multi-millionaire you never met before the wedding?

Perhaps I am old fashioned (or naive) about love & marriage. I found myself struggling with the ethics of this show.

Would I participate in a pageant where, if I won, I would immediately marry a woman I didn't know?

I have to answer "no".

Don't get me wrong, the big, loud, multiple, sweet sounding, siren call of all that loot makes it very tempting. I would have a hard time hearing the wedding bells with that constant "Ka-ching" ringing in my ears.

But what if it turns out later that I don't love her? What if she hates me? What if during the time at the end of the show when they are telling me about my future bride that it turns out that I hate her favorite hobbies? What if we have nothing in common? (other than that non-stop cash register noise I keep hearing.)

Can a marriage survive on this alone?

Boy, I hope not. But it sure does make it interesting. Do you think as many of us would've watched if the question was "Who wants to marry a not-so-rich nobody who'll never be a millionaire, but might make you happy?" Perhaps not. Would they have even got 50 participants?

OK, so things didn't turn out as well as I hoped between me and her, so we get divorced and I end up right back where I started. (You do know that the brides-to-be on that show all signed pre-nups, right?)

Or maybe I care about the sanctity of marriage so much that I continue trying a failed relationship that I would never have attempted if I just had one single dinner with this person.

"Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it."

Let's look at the other side of the coin. What if it were you behind that screen and you were forced to choose from people that you never met based on their looks and their questions to answers, (Knowing full well that they will probably say anything to marry your money, I mean you.) It doesn't matter that you never went on one single date with this person. That you've never fully made eye contact with them. You must choose one that seems the best and hope. (Mommy, how did you and Daddy meet?)

Then again, arranged marriages statistically last better and longer than "American dating" marriages. Perhaps today's American dating system is flawed and we need something new.

But that's my point. In today's world "divorce" has transformed from something of a disgrace into an entire industry. Instead of being ashamed that you couldn't stick with your oaths and bailed out like the coward you are, you mention it to your friends like you just tried a new cereal at the supermarket.

Did you know you could buy do-it-yourself divorce kits right at the office supply store?

Lessee, things to do today:

1. Close the Birkins account.
2. Play golf with Randy.
3. Divorce this wife.
4. Get name of wife from secretary first.
5. Get flowers, tux and wedding ring for date tonight.

Does that sound wrong to anyone else?

It used to be that we dated, and if we found one we were particularly impressed with, we would ask them to marry us.However, there is no commitment on a date. Dating is what you do to find out more about that other person. Maybe you go to dinner a few times. Perhaps meet their family. Perhaps even have sex and/or move in together. While these things are intimate and personal decisions made between those people, they are not permanent.

Today, it seems people actually get married to "see if it will work out between us". They are actually using marriage as a form of dating. And if it doesn't work out, they get divorced and go their separate ways. Off to find others to marry, uh, I mean date.

One thing that caught my attention at the beginning of the show was the the multi-millionaire was selected from a group of 100+ multi-millionaires for this show. That means that this wasn't his idea. It was someone else's idea. Specifically the people at Fox, and some company that pitched the idea to them.

And now they want to do it again. They knew that it would be a ratings winner and so they will dip into the well as many times as they can to marry multi-millionaires to lovely ladies (and men, I'm guessing. My bet is the third or fourth time they will reverse the roles to see what the ratings will "prove".) They don't care whether the marriages work out or not. Well actually they do. They will hound them and make millions of dollars putting their names on their news shows.

This is taking the "dating service" concept way too far. I can understand a screening agency helping people find a date and perhaps "Ms. Right". (For the record, no I never used a dating service.) However, this is too much. You don't marry them as part of the dating ritual. Marriage is a, excuse me, WAS a commitment to your significant other that you will spend the rest of your life with them

In sickness AND in health

For richer AND for poorer.

Through good AND bad.

'Til DEATH do you part.

This means that you are promising to stick it out with this other person NO MATTER HOW SCREWED UP LIFE GETS. No matter how many overdue bills there are. No matter how tempted you are to cheat. No matter how many arguments. No matter how much your life isn't "the way you wanted it". No matter what.

Anyone who marries a complete stranger when they don't have to, (due to arranged marriages) is just stupid.

Still I wish them luck. There is nothing that says they can't have a happy life together. I hope they are, indeed, happy together.

'Til death do them part.

Quick Update: They were seperated the next day and divorced a few months later. Did this show take place in Las Vegas?

I am available for seminars, debates, interviews or lectures about many philosophical, ethical, scientific or religious issues. Please contact me for scheduling and prices.

Read Responses

I am no longer accepting responses to my articles.