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Relationships have historically been fashion accessories. Women were once considered legal property for a father to leverage in exchange for access to his son-in-law's wealth.

Love is a selfish pursuit. The vast majority of people, historically and in modern times, didn't pursue a relationship out of the goodness of their heart.

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This is not at all how it worked in the past. The elite might trade women around, but that’s such a tiny part of the human population that it’s not at all representative for how the average person lived.

Throughout history — until even today in fact - the majority of marriages have been arranged.

“According to a 2012 study by Statistic Brain, 53.25% of marriages are arranged worldwide. The global divorce rate for arranged marriages was 6.3%”

http://www.statisticbrain.com/arranged-marriage-statistics/

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