Benjamin, a Christian, and his Jewish spouse, Stephen, are already Domestic Partners when they learn they are about to be given the legal right to marry in California. They promptly do so, only to find that well-heeled religious groups will do virtually anything in order to use the ballot box to unravel their union. And, despite the fact Benjamin is a lawyer, they find they can't actually afford the detached home they need to start a family. On the other hand, Benjamin's brother James seems to have no trouble borrowing to buy homes, cars, boats and whatever else he wants, as he works for a rapidly-growing and newly-founded mortgage brokerage that funds "liar's loans." However, when the real estate market starts to turn, things change, as James finds his life and finances de-leveraging rapidly. As nouveau-debtor James fends off his wife's charge that he "lost all our money," Benjamin and Stephen find the tsunami of foreclosures actually makes buying a house more difficult....

This is a very dangerous, even subversive, book by today's standards. We will dare to discuss the Bill of Rights, The Ten Commandments, the parables of Jesus, the language in the letters of the Apostle Paul in the King James Version of the Holy Bible, and the genius of Western Civilization and, in particular, the hard-fought liberty and respect for the individual it provides. To anyone with a public school education, ideas such as the thought that all citizens have equal but not superior rights, even if they are from an "aggrieved" group, men should be required to be polite to women, that God requires us to manage our money wisely, in order to build wealth, or that children come before "career," will seem revolutionary. So here is my first piece of advice to my daughters, which informs this entire book: don't ""lean in." Ignore the advice of those who put lifestyle and prestige first and urge you to focus most of what you have to offer the world in terms of the pursuit of money.