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[Lilith7]

Hmmmm, but there are good marriages and bad ones. And the divorce rates suggest a lot of bad ones. Stats also suggest interesting trends. Married men live longer than single ones, but single women live longer than married women. The increasing trend away from marriage as a formalised relationship also leaves room for speculation about the experiences within marriages.

This social change could be said to mirror the other trend towards being 'woke', or awakened to the challenges inherent in our communities, challenges like inequity, racism, misogyny, authoritative power abuses, income and access disparities. Real challenges, that exist despite decades of deliberate social blindness. These challenges are absolutely clear and present in our censuses, our researched statistics, our economies, our governance, our laws. Their existence is obvious, undeniable, and continuing.

To use your narrative, this marriage is struggling, separation is being encouraged by some, and fought against by others. And no, divorce is not an option, not because one spouse has nowhere to retreat to, but because both partners have too much to lose and so much more to gain, by going to counselling rather than to blows.

As the hikoi showed us, we need to talk to each other, and even more importantly, we need to listen. Because what is good for one, really good, is good for all of us.

David Seymour has his answer to his views with regard to the treaty. That he clearly dislikes that answer & has attempted to write the reaction off as being due to 'immaturity & a lack of understanding' really says everything about him.

You have to wonder what his reaction might have been, had there been an overwhelming response in favour of his ideas; would he:

A) have claimed that really, Kiwis weren't 'mature enough' to understand? Or would he 

B) have embraced the reaction enthusiastically & continued with his plan...??