I wrote:
>  But I suspect that people still get married and divorced for any of
several
>  reasons, for which there is probably no simple root cause.
and Wirt replied:
> Money *is* the simple root cause of most things, and it gives
> every evidence
> of being true for divorce rates as well.

It's probably in the top ten, or five, or three, but I would suggest it is
not just amount of income, or even income vs. outgo, but how and how often
it is argued about. John Gottman out of the University of Washington in
Seattle has attempted to apply observation and statistical methods, claiming
his methods can predict divorce with 90% accuracy. Granted, this is more
psychology than sociology or materialism, so bringing this in is like
playing a good game of Calvinball - it fundamentally changes the rules.

Not surprisingly, Gottman also has advice on changing the dynamics which
indicate that a marriage is headed for divorce, and he and others at his
Gottman Institute have written several books, both for academic and for
popular consumption. Somewhat surprisingly, some of us may know him from
some short articles at the end of more recent issues of that important and
authoritative literary journal, The Readers Digest.

I don't suppose that there are simple answers or simple causes. Is it enough
that I live in Massachusetts without the benefit of being Italian or Irish
Catholic? Or do I also need to disavow any form of personal piety or
organized religion?

Greg Stigers
http://www.cgiusa.com

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