[Carolyn Jessop:] Life is not the same as normal society. There’s not enough money to go around. So somebody is going to have to go without the basic necessities they need. The other thing is, we worked really hard. There might be one woman who would try to maintain life in the home, and then everybody else had to work. I worked as a teacher and I gave Merril all my money. It was just a mandatory requirement. You’d turn everything in. He pays the bills and then he gives you back what he feels you deserve or need. If he chooses to give you nothing back, then you just have to deal with that. He also had the power to decide whether he wanted to eat out at fancy restaurants and eat steaks, and we went without groceries. As a man, that was his choice.”
Not all polygamous families have more kids than they can support. Having more children than you can support is the problem. Often polygamous have more families, and it is sort of a causal relationship, but it is not by necessity a direct causal relationship. This argument can not be used against polygamous families that have lots of money or use birth control. Besides, you can’t just measure quality of life with money.
Comment & Debate