The cost of rejecting marriage

Laura Wood of The Thinking Housewife wrote an interesting post on men who reject marriage. She quotes a reader and agrees with him that men who reject marriage and child-rearing are responsible for the coming social collapse.

I honestly believe she's got it backwards; men's caddish behavior is a symptom of the disease already infecting society, which is selfish pseudo-egalitarianism in the form of feminism. Women are -- and always have been -- the gatekeepers of sex. Most men will do whatever it takes to get sex. In previous generations, that meant learning a trade, being polite and courteous to the woman in question and her family, generally maintaining a good and honorable reputation, etc. These days, what women reward most is the aloof asshole who's just in it for the sex.

Men are fairly simple mechanical beings. If we find something enjoyable, we want more of it. If condition β needs to be satisfied to get enjoyable outcome X, men will fulfill condition β. If condition β ceases to be a requirement to attain outcome X in favor of condition α, men will instead work to satisfy condition α. It really is that simple.

Please do not think that I imply that men are off the hook for such behavior; pre- and extra-marital sex is objectively sinful, irregardless of the conditions of society. But it has become increasingly risky and difficult to do as St. Paul counseled those who cannot bear celibacy, one wonders if some of the gravity of the sin involved is mitigated, at least in cases where a man is actively struggling with regards to chastity.