Austrian entrepreneur Anton Bartz was known in Vienna for organizing wedding fairs. Being a servant of Hymen, he, like no other, understood how fragile modern marriage is. Too many of his former clients filed for divorce after two or three years. And then Anton was struck by an idea: if there is a wedding fair, why not have a divorce fair? Everything ingenious is simple! In an instant, the modest entrepreneur from Vienna became famous all over the world. Apparently, Bartz caught what had been in the air for a long time - the crisis of family values - and turned this crisis into a business idea.
Since the 'Divorce Fair' is somewhat different from other events, the first page of the glossy brochure, next to a photo of a slightly embarrassed Anton Bartz, indicated that attendance was 'free, optional and anonymous.' The event itself took place in the spacious hall of the Vienna Marriott hotel. The motto of this unusual event sounded more than optimistic: 'Start your life anew!' It was suggested to do this by visiting a lawyer, psychologist, sexologist, and even a DNA expert (in case any parent suspected a cuckoo in their family nest). All specialists were in one 'bunch,' no need to travel to different parts of the city and wait in queues. That, in fact, was the idea of the 'Divorce Fair.' Notably, there were many elderly couples present. Could they be divorcing? No, it turns out these were parents 'caring' for their children, finding out how to quickly and painlessly divorce their beloved child from a tiresome spouse. It seems that mothers-in-law are the same all over the world!
Although this whole event was called a fair, it proceeded rather routinely and quietly, like an office. People approached the specialists, talked quietly with them, and tried to disappear quickly. The filming crowd of photojournalists and TV cameramen was clearly disappointed by the uneventful scene.
- What did they expect to see, anyway? - shrugs Anton Bartz. But he himself, in a conversation with Itogi, looked like a birthday boy. - Everything went magnificently. I've already received calls from England, Switzerland, America, and even Australia! They want to hold a 'Divorce Fair' too. But first, I'll head to Germany!
And he dreamily rolled his eyes, from which one could conclude that the neighboring country is the most fertile ground in all of Europe for the realization of his business idea. In this, the enterprising Bartz is right - among Germans, almost every second marriage ends in divorce. The only thing the resourceful Austrian did not take into account is that he would have to face quite tough competition.
In Germany, a whole divorce industry has been operating for a long time. Small firms compete with each other to offer Germans the fastest and surest way to separation. Maybe they don't operate on the same scale as Bartz, but I can say for sure – with no less ingenuity. To see this, just open any classifieds newspaper. Here, for example, invitations to courses: 'How to get divorced quickly and painlessly'; 'Rehabilitation after divorce'; 'Party for those who have just divorced.' But perhaps the most original service is offered by one Berndt Dressler, who is willing, for a moderate fee, to inform a partner of the breakup. Dressler's agency rates are moderate. For notification by phone - €30, for a personal conversation - €50. A separate fee is provided for refusal in a rude manner (probably with a risk premium). Now that's service!
What about entrepreneurs! It feels as if German politicians are dreaming of giving their married fellow citizens the opportunity to run off in different directions. A month ago, a well-known German politician Gabriela Pauli, by the way a candidate for the leadership of one of the most conservative German parties - the Christian Social Union - proposed limiting the term of a marriage contract... to seven years. After seven years of married life, the marriage is automatically annulled. (Note that the proposal concerns only civil marriages and does not affect people who have undergone a church wedding ceremony.) If the spouses are willing to live together, they must say 'yes' to each other again, but if they are sick of each other, they can part forever. And no expensive and tedious divorce procedures. 'Many people,' says Gabriela Pauli, 'keep the family only because marriage supposedly gives them a sense of security, providing a rear. But only love should be taken into account.' Pauli herself, by the way, has been married twice. She divorced her second husband in February last year, exactly after seven years of marriage.
The Lonely Generation
So, a genuine family crisis has erupted in the West. Many European demographers believe that in the near historical future, it as a social institution will either disappear altogether or finally cede ground to civil marriage (in different countries this form of cohabitation is called differently: sometimes Swedish marriage, sometimes guest marriage, in our country - nothing other than cohabitation). Demographers are echoed by feminists, convinced that there are fewer and fewer incentives to enter into a legally formalized marriage every year. If earlier the main goal of marriage for most women was the birth of children (or, more precisely, not giving birth to illegitimate children), then with the liberalization of public morality, taking on family obligations has become completely unnecessary. The results are obvious: on average, every third child in the EU last year was born out of wedlock. And Europe is not standing still. In Germany, the trend now prevails - to live without children and without family. Today, 33% of the adult population of this country are childless. According to a survey conducted by the Berlin Institute for Demography and Development, 26% of female respondents declared an unwillingness to give birth to children due to the impossibility of combining work and their further upbringing. Instead of the orthodox commandment Kinder - Küche - Kirche (Children - Kitchen - Church), the female half of German society, on par with men, chose the slogan - Karriere (Career). As a result, Germany has held the world record for "absolute non-birth" for several years. Here, there are 1.3 children per woman. In practice, this means that Germany's population has decreased by 5 million people in recent years. And this is with a huge flow of immigrants arriving annually in the FRG. And another sad world record: in large German cities, the number of single, i.e., family-less people reaches 63%. Just think about that number! It means that the modern generation of Europeans chooses loneliness as their life companion. Family values are becoming a thing of the past. For how long?
Divorce - a matter of technique
The Swedes have always been considered the main trendsetters in changing family style. Of course, one immediately recalls such a concept as the 'Swedish family', communes leading a joint domestic and sometimes sexual life. But all that is in the distant past of the sexual revolution. Today, under pressure from the feminist lobby, the moral foundations in Sweden have risen so high that sometimes they stump foreigners. This is the only country in the world where a man who uses the services of a prostitute will get a prison sentence.
And one more thing. Recently, Swedish sociologists conducted a study that clearly demonstrates: the probability of divorce for couples who cohabited before official marriage is much higher than for those who did not 'rehearse' family life. In addition, I, for example, was surprised to find that in Sweden not all divorced couples are actually such. That is, officially the 'stamp in the passport' about divorce is there, but that does not mean that he and she actually live apart. The mystery is simple - the Swedish state provides generous social support to single mothers. So why not shift part of the material worries onto its mighty shoulders by means of a 'technical divorce'.
I have a familiar couple in Stockholm: he is a freelance journalist, she is a housewife, they have two children, the family budget is average, or rather, middling. They got divorced, he rented a tiny apartment nearby. Former spouses are not forbidden to visit each other, and in the presence of common children, such communication is even considered beneficial - the father is involved in raising his children. It is extremely difficult to track whether the divorced live together or separately. But the state allocated generous social benefits to the newly-minted 'single mother'.
It cannot be said that there are too many 'technical divorces', but more and more young families are trying to improve their material situation in this simple way. It has gotten to the point where the state has been forced to take countermeasures. Those suspected of 'technical divorce' may be unexpectedly called for an interview, where they will have to explain where and how they spent the previous night. True, it has not come to actual inspections yet, but the authorities have indicated the problem.
Cell of future society
So what will the family of the future be like? About 15 years ago, I had a conversation with a pretty Swedish woman named Sherstin. She was a radical feminist and, naturally, a lesbian. It was Sherstin who first painted for me a social portrait of the family of the future. The family as an institution will disappear in the near future, she said. Such concepts as attachment, love will remain, but the overwhelming majority of couples will be same-sex. According to Sherstin, psychologists have long proven that women and men are too different creatures and in a heterosexual marriage they have to spend a lot of time and nerves to prove they are right. And therefore, it is much more comfortable for a woman to live with a woman. As well as a man with a man. Well, children will be born through artificial insemination or some other way not yet known to science.
I will not hide it, at the time all this seemed to me like futuristic nonsense from an aggressive feminist. But not much time has passed, and test-tube babies are already quite an ordinary phenomenon. Cloning is on the horizon (not yet known to science at the time). Swedish gays and lesbians can not only register their marriage but also get married in church. Are futuristic predictions beginning to take concrete shape?
Recently, among a circle of fellow journalists, I meet Sherstin again. She was with her third or fourth wife (it turns out, marriages among lesbians are usually short-lived). And with the new life partner, Sherstin was clearly not getting along. There was something sparking between the women, and they spoke in raised voices, which is not customary among Swedes. Sherstin had not changed her views, but she also did not seem particularly happy. Now this couple is fighting for the right to adopt a child.
I looked at these two sullen, grumpy ladies and thought: is this really the very cell of the future society.