So far we\u2019ve looked at men and women in the modern West. Both are struggling\u2014men unsure of their role, women caught between biology and ideology. But there\u2019s a bigger player in this story, one that too often gets ignored: the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When governments insert themselves into relationships, things stop being private and start being political. Love turns into paperwork. Trust turns into contracts. And when those contracts are rigged, men and women start treating each other less like partners and more like potential liabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s be blunt: marriage in the West isn\u2019t just a personal vow. It\u2019s a legal agreement overseen by the state. You don\u2019t need a judge to love someone, but you need one to divorce them. And the state takes its cut every step of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What should be the most personal bond in human life\u2014marriage\u2014has been hijacked by bureaucrats. It\u2019s like hiring the DMV to referee your wedding vows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the ugly truth: divorce law in the West often incentivizes breaking families apart. If you think that\u2019s an exaggeration, look at the numbers. Since no-fault divorce became the norm in the 1970s, rates skyrocketed. Why? Because one person could walk away, take half the assets, and often gain custody of the kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, imagine being a man watching his peers lose their homes, their savings, and sometimes their kids. Do you think he\u2019s going to run to the altar? No way. He\u2019ll see marriage less as love and more as Russian roulette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This isn\u2019t just paranoia. Men know the system is stacked. Even women quietly admit it, though many benefit from the imbalance. And when both sides treat relationships like potential lawsuits, trust evaporates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s not just the state. Society itself has poisoned the well. Cultural narratives paint men as abusers-in-waiting and women as oppressed victims, even though reality is far more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This constant drumbeat erodes the foundation of trust between the sexes. Men and women stop seeing each other as natural allies and start seeing each other as rivals\u2014or worse, enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throw in technology and you get another layer of dysfunction. Dating apps treat people like commodities. Swipe left, swipe right\u2014it\u2019s shopping for humans. Attraction becomes transactional. Relationships become disposable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Combine that with the state\u2019s legal incentives, and you get a perfect storm: people who enter relationships cautiously, half-committed, always with one eye on the exit. It\u2019s like building a house with the front door already open. No wonder families collapse under the first sign of stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the heart of this mess is trust\u2014or the lack of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what do they do? They retreat into control mechanisms: prenups, ultimatums, games. They hold back emotionally. They test instead of committing. And all the while, the state sits in the background, ready to swoop in if things go wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like duct-taping a broken bridge and wondering why no one wants to cross it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a liberty perspective, the solution is obvious: get the state out of relationships. Marriage should be a private contract between adults, not a government program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government has no business deciding who gets what in a breakup or who \u201cowns\u201d the kids. Those decisions should be handled privately or through voluntary arbitration, not by a bureaucrat with a gavel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the state inserts itself into human bonds, it distorts incentives. People start gaming the system instead of trusting each other. That\u2019s not love, that\u2019s politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, kicking the state out won\u2019t magically solve cultural rot. People also need to rethink their values. Loyalty, responsibility, family\u2014these used to be central to Western life. Now they\u2019re treated as burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know what? Convenience has replaced commitment. Why fight for a relationship when you can just swipe for a new one? Why work through problems when you can file for divorce and let the courts split the assets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That mindset is poison. And the only antidote is a cultural shift back to responsibility. Men and women need to stop treating each other like enemies and start acting like allies again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state and society have poisoned the relationship well, but the antidote is still in our hands. Trust, loyalty, and responsibility aren\u2019t old-fashioned\u2014they\u2019re revolutionary in a world that treats everything as temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If men and women start rejecting the state\u2019s interference and society\u2019s poison, they can rebuild what\u2019s been lost. And when they do, they\u2019ll find out that true partnership isn\u2019t a contract enforced by government\u2014it\u2019s a voluntary bond that no courtroom can destroy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n