I read this interesting article that was inspired by the recent news that the Census has announced last month that married households are now a minority.

The interesting perspective of this opinion piece was that one of the main problems with the pressures on marriage, and on questioning whether or not more people should be aiming for marriage, was that unlike in previous generations--we are much more likely to put all of our emotional needs onto our partners. Whereas in times past, people got emtional support from their church, or from their neighbors, or the folks down in their working men's clubs...now that just isn't happening. People seem to have become more inclusive, and focus all of their intimacy on one person--it is no longer as accepted to have such a close same-sex friend (or heaven forbid, one of the opposite gender), nor to form such close bonds with your siblings (I know I had a guy drunkly accuse me of incest when he found out my brother and I are best friends), nor to head over to your neighbors house to borrow a cup of sugar.

However, I can also see how much of the internet is dedicated to people trying to connect with one another. There seems to be a clear desire for this closeness. So what do you think? Are people finding it harder to connect with people outside their little circles? Do you have more than one close friend? Is marriage the answer to your social problems...or the problem itself?

This post is dedicated to sg, who sent the article and inspired the post. Thanks, hon.