My wife and I have been celebrating Valentine’s Day since 1966, a few months after we started dating…and 18 months before we were engaged. Two years later we were married in the summer of 1968. This August we will celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary, a fact that is hard to fathom. Only really old people celebrate that many years of marriage.
What is the secret of a long-lasting love affair? One answer was given by a gentleman who was asked what the secret is of his 60-year marriage at an audience participation event on a cruise we were on several years ago. He nonchalantly replied, “Not dying!” The audience roared in laughter and the master of ceremonies of the event was speechless.
There is more to not dying to a long marriage. So, what then is the secret of a happy, long-lasting relationship? Apparently, financial security is not a prerequisite for a solid marriage otherwise every wealthy couple would never divorce.
The answer IMHO is mutual respect, commitment, balancing professional life with married life and enjoying each other’s company. Without these conditions, a long-lasting marriage would be difficult—if not impossible--to achieve.
Whether you are newly married, been married for a couple or more decades, all marriages should be able to succeed despite the ebbs and flows of emotions, arguments, and occasional heartaches. In the end, “Marriage should be a duet - when one sings, the other claps.”
Thus, one of the overriding reasons for an unhappy marriage is the partnership is tenuous, and the husband-and-wife team instead of being in the canoe rowing in the same direction are actually in two ships going in different directions.
On this Valentine Day, enjoy it with your spouse or significant other and remember life is short so make the best of it with the person you decided to make a lifelong commitment to.
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What does Valentine’s Day have to do with being an American? Plenty.
Being a citizen is in many respects like a marriage. To me being a citizen means you make a commitment to respect your fellow citizens and you would do anything to them that you would want to have done to you. In other words, the Golden Rule is a wonderful foundation for members of a society. Unfortunately, there are those who do not practice the Golden Rule, and we have prisons for them. (My solution is banishing criminal adults starting with murderers, rapists, sex traffickers, carjackers, and others who commits violent crimes. This would end most recidivism.)
The other groups who do not abide by the Golden Rule are politicians and crony capitalists. There is no need for a lengthy explanation of this now. (This is the theme of the book I have in mind to write soon.)
The American people would be better off economically, socially, psychologically and would be much healthier if the ruling elites just left us alone in our communities to live our lives with our families, neighbors, colleagues to forge a path of social harmony and prosperity.
Instead, the busybodies on both sides of the aisle, mostly on the Democratic wing of the Washington Establishment, want to “govern” us. We need self-government not “trickle-down economics” from DC.
Since the Hoover-FDR New Deal trickle-down economics have turned into a downpour where now tens of millions of Americans and families are financially dependent on the federal government, i.e., taxpayers. (Can anyone say, “Thou shall not steal.”)
When will the American people demand a “better marriage” between themselves and the federal government? First, they must understand they are the proverbial abused spouse before it’s too late. That’s one of the reasons I wrote my autobiography…a love letter to the American people about having a better marriage than the current long-time abused relationship.
Murray Sabrin, PhD, is emeritus professor of finance, Ramapo College of New Jersey. Dr. Sabrin is considered a “public intellectual” for writing about the economy in scholarly and popular publications. His new book, The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance (Business Expert Press, Oct. 24, 2022), and his other BEP publication, Navigating the Boom/Bust Cycle: An Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide (October 2021), provides decision makers with tools needed to help manage their businesses during the business cycle. Sabrin's autobiography, From Immigrant to Public Intellectual: An American Story, was published in November, 2022.