We all need something to believe in. So it seems. Not just because human society keeps creating religions no matter how absurdist, but even as individuals outside of the State we seek emotional compass points, things we can be certain of or rely upon, to direct our lives.
Mexico City in an act of delightful realism is giving marriage licences that last two years. Renewable marriage takes into account the problem so many people find – we change. Over each decade we change as we know more, experience more and sometimes in a marriage we change together and sometimes, in fact many times, people come apart. Renewing a marriage every few years would be romantic for those for whom marriage works, and a release for those who find it doesn’t.
I actually think the Mexican authorities have done something that is not progressive for its own sake, but an answer to the emotional devastation of divorce. Highlighting the fact that we all look for certainties in each other and they are rarely there, for human beings are quick-sand, ultimately wholly untrustworthy not because they want to be that way but because nature is built upon the unknown.
Surviving the chaos of creation is what evolution is all about. The fewer fixed points you have the higher your survival rate.