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This week, a group called the Institute for American Values is publishing a manifesto calling for "a new conversation on marriage." It contains a capsule summary of the usual conservative defence of marriage: "Families are the seedbeds of civil society, and marriage is the basis of the family. Marriage creates kin. Marriage is a wealth-producing institution. And because marriage is the main institution governing the link between the spousal association and the parent-child association, marriage is society’s most pro-child institution." But, crucially, the manifesto also states that the biggest threat facing the institution of marriage is not dilution from gay couples, but rather the schism of class: "While marriage is stable or strengthening among our college-educated elites, much larger numbers of Americans, particularly in middle and working-class America, are abandoning the institution entirely, with harmful social and personal consequences."