Marriage is a relic from another era. It needs to be replaced.

How on Earth do "Alpha males outnumber less dominant males"? ... Clearly the alphas are rare, since they dominate the others.Where did you get the idea I was saying that less dominant men were forcing women who would be 'happier' with alpha males to marry them? Instead, I was saying that they would be happier with the less dominant male but out of fear of the alpha male beating him up for her, thus leaving the father of her children helpless to defend them, she would end up feeling forced to mate with the alpha male.Marriage acts as a legal bind to say "piss off you physically dominant males to allow males dominant in other ways to mate!" In essence our species increase sin variation so people of MANY talents (not just fighting) get to pass their genes on and create a very diverse (thus dangerous) gene pool to ensure our species' dominance upon the planet. The fact that lower testosterone is associated with being a less attentive father [http://www.nytimes.com...] only assists my point in that we must allow these men to have the opportunity to raise kids and give them a fair chance."In past times, marriage was an device to protect mothers, help raise children, and to help men identify their own offspring. It is no longer the best means of addressing those aims, and should be replaced." This claim is entirely false. From where did you find this? You must cite your source. Marriage was, and always has been, a binding force to make it clear that two people are to be bonded and that one partner (usually the husband) is responsible to supply to the needs of the other while the other raises their children but even infertile people can marry and adopt because that is the beauty of our species and why I support socialism, we are designed to SHARE AND CARE to make overall wealth increase, not to leave us as primitive, starving individuals brutally fighting for survival (after all if marriage wasn't superior to casual sex relationships then why did we invent it to begin with).Now to re-iterate my contentions: No matter how common divorce has become (thanks to women now having a voice in the world to abusive husbands compared with back then) it still is a legal binding that will make a guy think much harder "Oh I shouldn't cheat on her" or the woman to think "Yes I really have him all to myself" and have a happy monogamous community where people distribute partners equally. (imagine as he pulls out his penis or she pulls your her tits that they suddenly see that ring on their finger and it sends a flood of guilt through them) In polygamy a very unfair 'status' system will form where only the offspring of the alpha male of the previous generation will be able to compete for the next because all women will think "OOH! THEY ARE THE BIG MAN'S SONS!" and any offspring of other men will seem inherently inferior with the family of offspring forming a brotherhood/sisterhood/mafia of some sort. MARRIAGE STOPS THIS by making it clear that there is a huge peer pressure not to touch another man's WIFE (being a far more significant social pressure than that on another man's GIRLFRIEND) Marriage forces monogamy because it is extreme social pressure not to create an unfair dynamic in who can get laid and raise their own children allowing less 'dominant' geniuses to pass their genes on to the next generation. Thanks for the debate. Hope you one day marry the love of your life (or get a civil partnership). :)