Coming To America?

The U.K. Daily Mail reported yesterday that under the new British welfare system, men with more than one wife will get extra benefits. My initial reaction to this is, “Are you nuts?”

The article reports:

Under the universal credit welfare system, which is not expected to be fully introduced until 2021, polygamous households will be rewarded with higher benefits, The Sunday Times reports. 

In the UK, it is illegal to marry more than one person.

Polygamous marriages, largely confined to Muslim families, are only recognised in Britain if they took place in countries where they are legal, such as Middle Eastern states, Pakistan and Zambia.

There no official figures but it is estimated that there may be as many as 20,000 polygamous marriages in the British Muslim community. 

Currently, a husband and his first wife are paid up to £114.85 a week. Subsequent spouses living under the same roof receive around £40 each. 

There is a basic premise in taxation and welfare systems–if you tax something, it decreases; if you offer a subsidy for something, it increases.

The article reminds us that in the United Kingdom, it is illegal to marry more than one person. However, polygamous marriages are recognized if they were legal in the country where they were performed. This is a further undercutting of one of the foundations of western civilization. If someone who is involved in a polygamous marriage decides to leave their home country, it should be understood that they would be better off going to another country that practices polygamy. Bringing polygamous families into western countries is simply not a good idea. In a similar vain, Muslims who feel justified by Islam to perform ‘honor killings’ should be told that should they not do that in a country that regards murder as a crime or they will be put in jail. There are many aspects of Islam that are simply not compatible with western civilization. It should be made clear to Muslims wanting to immigrate to western countries that they should be willing to adopt the customs of that country. If they are not willing to assimilate, they should be encouraged to go instead to a Muslim country.