It's essentially a way of dodging inheritance taxes.
Illyria: We cling to what is gone. Is there anything in this life but grief? Wesley: There's love. There's hope...for some. There's hope that you'll find something worthy...that your life will lead you to some joy...that after everything...you can still be surprised. Illyria: Is that enough? Is that enough to live on?
'Shells'
The Minearverse 3: The Network Is a Harsh Mistress
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
DXMachina - Jan 26, 2005 10:35:13 am PST #4077 of 10001
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
Betsy HP - Jan 26, 2005 10:37:39 am PST #4078 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
As originally conceived, it's a way of setting up a stable family in an environment that is both very dangerous and woman-poor. (Yes, the boy-girl rotation doesn't work with that. It's presented as one family's habit. Don't yell at me, yell at Heinlein.) If you have two mothers and three fathers in the family, when a parent dies, there are still several people around to raise the kids.
JenP - Jan 26, 2005 10:49:00 am PST #4079 of 10001
Is there a limit to the number of people in a line marriage? I'm having fun making mine up, but I think it could get unwieldy.
Allyson - Jan 26, 2005 10:52:39 am PST #4080 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
And Tim, as first husband, at age 102, has the right to bed down with all teh new wives first, right-o?
Betsy HP - Jan 26, 2005 10:55:55 am PST #4081 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Right-o. Also, I, as first wife, at a ripe and shapely 45 (hey, if this is my fantasy, I'm going with it) get first dibs on Tim, Mark, and Sean-if-it's-Bean.
Tim, Mark, and Sean would presumably not have signed on for the whole shebang if they couldn't stand the thought of bedding me.
Topic!Cindy - Jan 26, 2005 11:00:31 am PST #4082 of 10001
What is even happening?
Wow. RH needed some saltpeter.
Strix - Jan 26, 2005 11:04:56 am PST #4083 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
And in TMisHM's Luna, women toally have the power when it comes to sex. There are so few of them, it's ladies-choice, all day, every day.
But grandpa still gets the droit de seigneur.
I understand the whole "propogation is the ultimate biological imperative" argument of RAH's, and for species survival, this is true. I'm just saying that there's more to marriage than biological imperative. And RAH just gets all end-all-and-be-all smug about "women breed, men protect, and if you don't belive this, you're an idiot."
Kat - Jan 26, 2005 11:15:48 am PST #4084 of 10001
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Wow. you are making me hate Heinlein and I've never even read him.
Strix - Jan 26, 2005 11:16:48 am PST #4085 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
I like lots of Heinlein, I really do, but a lot of things piss me off.
Betsy HP - Jan 26, 2005 11:24:04 am PST #4086 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
The thing is, Heinlein is a product of the turn of the 19th century trying to be sexually progressive. He thinks he's daring because women get to take the initiative and sleep around if they want to. That's racy stuff for 1950. It's just that the century zipped past him.