russianROULETTE
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- Dec 5, 2007
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- HSC
- 2008
i can't believe no one has posted reasons for why it shouldn't be legalised..
scientific reason - reduced genetic diversity. probably more relevant when it comes to crops and stuff, but i'm sure someone intelligent could think of some ramifications of this
possible problems with adults in both polyandry and polygyny - issues of jealousy/favouritism (which, face it, is inevitable), violence related to possessiveness, abuse of power, less time able to be spent with each wife/husband, higher potential for conflict, objectification of partners as status symbols
possible problems for children - jealousy/favouritism, dominant wives/husbands abusing children of other wives/husbands, less time spent with children as there are more (in polygyny), social problems - i.e. bullying, because legalised doesn't necessarily mean accepted by society (which is why i believe it would never happen anyway)
scenario one - polygyny. a good birth rate is 2 children per couple. say a man has three wives who all have that many children, that's six children. that's four people working to support ten people, assuming no one stays home to look after the kids (if one does, that's three people supporting ten. by adding another factor to this, i.e. two wives get pregnant at the same time and can't work, the situation only gets worse). this = lower living standards. in this particular situation i assume they would need some kind of welfare. legalise polygamy and you can multiply this, think about potential costs for taxpayers.
tl;dr version: social costs (lower living standards), economic costs (financial strain on family, more welfare = taxpayers foot the bill for the lifestyles of others [to a greater extent than they do already]), not to mention personal costs (stress associated with providing for a family with more people to support than are working, in addition to making all these relationships work peacefully etc)
scenario two - polygyny. one woman has children with the man and wants to get out of the relationship, but doesn't have a job. what are her options?
a. stay with the husband in an unhappy relationship.
b. move out and work to support the children, find someone to look after them etc, basically all the problems single mothers face, but with even less support from the father because he has other wives/children to support, and the stigma of having been involved in a polygamist relationship.
tl;dr version: less support for single mothers coming out of a polygamist relationship, once again personal and financial stress, as well as problems for the children that already exist in relationship breakdowns
scenario three - polygyny. one wife has a problem with another. as a result, she abuses the wife and any of her children, and manipulates her husband into paying her more attention than the other.
the reason i have provided more polygyny scenarios than polyandry ones is because if it were to happen, i see a dispropportionate amount of polygynists compared to polyandrists, because that's the way it is already. just doing a quick wiki search, i see many more cults related to polygyny than polyandry.
anyway, i can't really see benefits coming from the legalisation of polygamy, except for the placation of the muslim groups who think it should be legal.
scientific reason - reduced genetic diversity. probably more relevant when it comes to crops and stuff, but i'm sure someone intelligent could think of some ramifications of this
possible problems with adults in both polyandry and polygyny - issues of jealousy/favouritism (which, face it, is inevitable), violence related to possessiveness, abuse of power, less time able to be spent with each wife/husband, higher potential for conflict, objectification of partners as status symbols
possible problems for children - jealousy/favouritism, dominant wives/husbands abusing children of other wives/husbands, less time spent with children as there are more (in polygyny), social problems - i.e. bullying, because legalised doesn't necessarily mean accepted by society (which is why i believe it would never happen anyway)
scenario one - polygyny. a good birth rate is 2 children per couple. say a man has three wives who all have that many children, that's six children. that's four people working to support ten people, assuming no one stays home to look after the kids (if one does, that's three people supporting ten. by adding another factor to this, i.e. two wives get pregnant at the same time and can't work, the situation only gets worse). this = lower living standards. in this particular situation i assume they would need some kind of welfare. legalise polygamy and you can multiply this, think about potential costs for taxpayers.
tl;dr version: social costs (lower living standards), economic costs (financial strain on family, more welfare = taxpayers foot the bill for the lifestyles of others [to a greater extent than they do already]), not to mention personal costs (stress associated with providing for a family with more people to support than are working, in addition to making all these relationships work peacefully etc)
scenario two - polygyny. one woman has children with the man and wants to get out of the relationship, but doesn't have a job. what are her options?
a. stay with the husband in an unhappy relationship.
b. move out and work to support the children, find someone to look after them etc, basically all the problems single mothers face, but with even less support from the father because he has other wives/children to support, and the stigma of having been involved in a polygamist relationship.
tl;dr version: less support for single mothers coming out of a polygamist relationship, once again personal and financial stress, as well as problems for the children that already exist in relationship breakdowns
scenario three - polygyny. one wife has a problem with another. as a result, she abuses the wife and any of her children, and manipulates her husband into paying her more attention than the other.
the reason i have provided more polygyny scenarios than polyandry ones is because if it were to happen, i see a dispropportionate amount of polygynists compared to polyandrists, because that's the way it is already. just doing a quick wiki search, i see many more cults related to polygyny than polyandry.
anyway, i can't really see benefits coming from the legalisation of polygamy, except for the placation of the muslim groups who think it should be legal.
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