I said something almost identical to a friend of mine last week. He was asking when i'm going to propose to my girl, I laughed. he asked why. I said, here's what marriage is...
Government: What's that? You have a good relationship with a girl? That's GREAT, congratulations. What we need you to do now is buy her a ring between $5,000 -$10,000 just so we know you're serious about her. Once you prove that you're serious, we'll go ahead and get you to sign a contract, pay us some money, and from that point on, we'll dictate to you the terms of your relationship with that girl. Once again, congratulations!