Monogamy is generally bad.

First, I will say that I will not address the moral aspect of polygamy, and encourage others not to mention it in their comments in this debate. I believe the morality of polygamy is entirely irrelevant to this debate and has no bearing in the nature of argument the instigator has made. So, please, if you want to discus the moral implications of polygamy, do it somewhere else. I will begin by conceding that, intrinsically, polygamy is not a bad thing. However, I also believe that communism is not intrinsically bad thing, either. For polygamy, as communism, the problem lies in the application thereof. I believe that human nature is what corrupts it, if you will, polygamy, and that ultimately its practice would cause more harm than good. One of the significant problems with polygamy I believe would be jealousy among partners. Of course, one could argue that polygamy would eliminate competition by allowing one person to be with multiple people, and thus not have conficts of this sort. However, I'm not sure how realistic this would be. I know that a lot of people, instinctively, would not want to be one of many for their partner. In my relationships, certainly, I know I would have a problem if my girlfriend was not happy with just me, and wanted another guy in addition. And while this may not necessarily mean that I--or anyone else in this situation--am not "adequate" for her, it could easily be taken that way. Or, even if on feels initially complacent in a polygamous relationship, I don't doubt feelings of competition may arise to try and be the "favorite" partner. Now, I'll make a point to study up on polygamy in various cultures during the course of this debate, so as to obtain as much of a well-rounded knowledge on the subject as I can, but for now I will reference the polygamist culture I am most familiar with, and one certainly riddled with problems--Fundamentalst Mormons. I know this is a rather dramatic example, but it still does illustrate problems that may arise from polygamy. One of the problems is a mathematical one: roughly an equal number of boys and girls are born, yet most polygamist cultures would involve one man with multiple wives. Of course polygamy can also be one women with multiple men, but for two reasons I believe one can assert that most likely it would be the other wy around. First, according to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook, of the 1231 societies detailes, only four were polyandrous. Second, even if polygamy was to be applied nowadays, one cannot deny that, typically, it is more socially acceptable for a man to be with multiple women than one woman with multiple men. So, this would ultimately lead to too many men and not enough women to marry. Among the Fundamentalist Mormons (FLDS), this leads to frequent banishment of men and boys to allow more women to be available for the other men. If a married man is banished, his wives will then be assigned to others. About 100 boys are driven out of the Colorado City and Hilldale areas, which are the predominant areas the FLDS line in, often for "crimes" such as listening to CD's or wearing short-sleeve shirts. Again, I know this is definitely a dramatic example, and not one that is representative of what happens in every polygamist society. Still, it is an actual example, and not just a hypothetical speculation.