



How would we classify current American or “western” under the Zoistic, Manistic, Deistic and Rationalistic classification system?



It would seem by default that all societies are now rationalistic because they’re all technologically sophisticated. Yet most societies don’t retain pre-nuptial chastity. Technology aside, I’d classify American and western society as Zoistic, since we don’t uphold pre-nuptial chastity for women. But culturally speaking we don’t share the characteristics of Zoistic societies that involve worshiping nature.



As far as sexual regulation goes I assume America falls fall under “modified polygamy” by these definitions from Unwin?



Modified monogamy — the practice or circumstance of having one spouse at one time, the - association being - terminable by either party in accordance with - the prevailing law or custom.



Modified polygamy — the practice or circumstance of having more than one-wife at one time, the wives being free to leave their husbands on - terms laid down by law and custom.



Absolute monogamy — the practice or circumstance of having one spouse at one time, but presupposing conditions whereby legally the wife is under the dominion of her husband and must confine her sexual

qualities to him, under pain of punishment, for the whole of his or her life.



Absolute polygamy — the practice or circumstance of having more than one wife at. one' time, these wives being compelled to confine their sexual qualities to their husband.for the. Whole of their lives.



Unwin states that it takes three generations or 100 years to progress from one cultural condition to another. Lower cultures are conquered by higher cultures. We’re obviously heading towards a Zoistic culture if we haven’t already reached rock bottom. When do you think we’ll bottom out and be conquered by another civilization?



I guess it depends on when someone believes the cultural change started to shift. Many people argue that our cultural shift occurred with the feminist wave in the 1960’s. This would place the completion of cultural change at 2060. However the year 2060 assumes two things. The first assumption is people have the same lifespan as calculated in 1934. Since people live longer, I think this would prolong the figure of 100 years. The second assumption is that women have children at the same age. Under a feminist culture women delay pregnancy so I’d guess this would push back the date also. But this is all supposing the 1960’s are the starting point for a cultural change. I don’t have the data to confirm this but I thought I read somewhere that even in the 1950’s most women weren’t virgins for marriage. So I’d assume the starting point for prenuptial decline was earlier, perhaps in the 1930’s.



The most obvious question from reading sex and culture is why aren’t highly female suppressive societies like Islamic nations exceeding us culturally and conquering us?



I’d assume it’s because they’re polygamous. While America may meet the definition of modified polygamy with couples constantly swapping partners and cheating, in practice we try being monogamous. It’s just a very temporary and low form of monogamy. We don’t actually have a formalized polygamy like in Islam.



Again referring to Unwin’s terms of (modified monogamy, modified polygamy, absolute monogamy and absolute polygamy), it would appear that having a wife and also visiting prostitutes would place us under absolute polygamy. Or perhaps using prostitutes along with a wife isn’t considered full fledged polygamy by Unwin since it’s a paid interaction? Maybe having a wife and also using prostitutes hovers in a place between absolute polygamy and absolute monogamy?



Unwin says a couple things absolute polygamy and absolute monogamy that are relevant here:



Page: 412



“Sometimes a man has been heard to declare that he wishes both to enjoy the advantages of high culture and to abolish compulsory continence-. The inherent nature of the 'An organism, however, seems to be such that these desires are incompatible, even contradictory. The reformer may be likened to - the foolish boy who desires both to keep his cake and to consume it. Any human society is free to choose

either to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom ; the evidence is that it cannot do both- for more than one generation.”



This would lead me to think prostitutes can be enjoyed but only at the cost of being beneath an absolutely monogamous society and not displaying great expansive energy as is unique to absolute monogamy.



Page 428



If; after suffering such limitations of their post-nuptial opportunity, the males are permitted to have more than one sexual 'partner, the society ceases to display expansive energy, but so long as it continues to demand pre-nuptial chastity it remains deistic. It also enjoys the usufruct of its conquests for so long as it possesses a &eater energy than the societies which desire" to rob it of its possessions. If a man's wives are compelled to confine their sexual qualities to their husband for the whole of their lives, or for so long as he wishes, the energy of the society is greater than it would be if the wives could leave their husband of their own free will. In the former case the society is in the absolutely polygamous, condition. The energy of an absolutely polygamous society is greater than that of any other society except an absolutely monogamous one ; so if, after displaying expansive energy, the society becomes absolutely polygamous, it is likely to preserve its conquests as well as its culture. If, however, it relaxes its sexual regulations to a further extent, it collapses. By deduction I consider that this is what happened among the Persians, Macedonians, Huns, and Mongols (para..i67). At one time the Yoruba also seem to have displayed a slight

expansive energy, .and, when we first met them, they were still the most energetic people in West Africa.



Should women and children be property?



Unwin says:



Page: 381



“sexual opportunity has never been' reduced to a minimum except by depriving women and children of their legal status. It is historically true to say that in the past social energy has been purchased at the price, of individual freedom, for it has never been displayed unless the female of the species has sacrificed her rights as an individual and unless children have been. treated as mere appendages to the estate of the male parent;”



But then says:



Page: 431



"It is difficult to express any opinion with complete confidence, but as, at the end of my task,- I look back along_the stream of time, it seems to me that it was the unequal fate of the women, not the compulsory continence, that caused the downfall of absolute monogamy. No society has yet succeeded in regulating the relations between the sexes in such a Way as to enable sexual opportunity to remain at a minimum for an extended period. The inference I draw from the historical evidence is that, if ever such a result should be desired, the sexes mu st first be placed on a footing of complete legal equality."



Page: 432



"In the future, it seems, a human society may continue its fortuitous career, and reflect, both in' its cultural - behavior and in its structure, the amount of energy it chances to possess ; but, if any society should desire to control its cultural destiny, it may do so by decreasing or increasing the amount of its energy. Such decrease or increase will appear in the third generation after the sexual opportunity has been extended or reduced. A lesser energy is easily- secured, for the force of life seems to flow backwards, and the members of the society will not be slow to take advantage of any relaxation in the regulations. If, on the other hand, a vigorous society wishes to display its productive energy for a long time, and even for ever, it must re=create itself, I think, first, by placing the sexes on a level of complete legal equality, and then by altering its economic and social. organization in such a way as to render it both possible and tolerable for sexual opportunity to remain at a minimum for an extended period, and

even for ever. In such a case the face of the society would be set in the Direction of the Cultural Process-; its inherited tradition would be continually' enriched ; it would achieve a. higher culture than has yet been attained; by the action of human entropy its tradition would be augmented and - refined in a manner which surpasses our present understanding.."



What is the best format for marriages?



When women were considered property they were originally purchased outright. This then evolved into a dower. Following this a dower was replaced by mutual consent. I'm not sure where arranged marriages fit into this picture. Do you believe a payment is the best method for acquiring wives? If a combination of arrangement and payment was applied to marriage maybe this would yield the best results. My thinking is the payment should be a transaction between the two families. This would ensure a larger stake in choosing mates for a successful marriage. Then on top of that the grooms family should only commit to a down payment at the time of marriage. For every year of successful marriage, the brides family can be paid more of the balance. Scripturist weekly online service Fschmidt, here are my questions about Sex and Culture:It would seem by default that all societies are now rationalistic because they’re all technologically sophisticated. Yet most societies don’t retain pre-nuptial chastity. Technology aside, I’d classify American and western society as Zoistic, since we don’t uphold pre-nuptial chastity for women. But culturally speaking we don’t share the characteristics of Zoistic societies that involve worshiping nature.Modified monogamy — the practice or circumstance of having one spouse at one time, the - association being - terminable by either party in accordance with - the prevailing law or custom.Modified polygamy — the practice or circumstance of having more than one-wife at one time, the wives being free to leave their husbands on - terms laid down by law and custom.Absolute monogamy — the practice or circumstance of having one spouse at one time, but presupposing conditions whereby legally the wife is under the dominion of her husband and must confine her sexualqualities to him, under pain of punishment, for the whole of his or her life.Absolute polygamy — the practice or circumstance of having more than one wife at. one' time, these wives being compelled to confine their sexual qualities to their husband.for the. Whole of their lives.Unwin states that it takes three generations or 100 years to progress from one cultural condition to another. Lower cultures are conquered by higher cultures. We’re obviously heading towards a Zoistic culture if we haven’t already reached rock bottom. When do you think we’ll bottom out and be conquered by another civilization?I guess it depends on when someone believes the cultural change started to shift. Many people argue that our cultural shift occurred with the feminist wave in the 1960’s. This would place the completion of cultural change at 2060. However the year 2060 assumes two things. The first assumption is people have the same lifespan as calculated in 1934. Since people live longer, I think this would prolong the figure of 100 years. The second assumption is that women have children at the same age. Under a feminist culture women delay pregnancy so I’d guess this would push back the date also. But this is all supposing the 1960’s are the starting point for a cultural change. I don’t have the data to confirm this but I thought I read somewhere that even in the 1950’s most women weren’t virgins for marriage. So I’d assume the starting point for prenuptial decline was earlier, perhaps in the 1930’s.I’d assume it’s because they’re polygamous. While America may meet the definition of modified polygamy with couples constantly swapping partners and cheating, in practice we try being monogamous. It’s just a very temporary and low form of monogamy. We don’t actually have a formalized polygamy like in Islam.Unwin says a couple things absolute polygamy and absolute monogamy that are relevant here:Page: 412“Sometimes a man has been heard to declare that he wishes both to enjoy the advantages of high culture and to abolish compulsory continence-. The inherent nature of the 'An organism, however, seems to be such that these desires are incompatible, even contradictory. The reformer may be likened to - the foolish boy who desires both to keep his cake and to consume it. Any human society is free to chooseeither to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom ; the evidence is that it cannot do both- for more than one generation.”This would lead me to think prostitutes can be enjoyed but only at the cost of being beneath an absolutely monogamous society and not displaying great expansive energy as is unique to absolute monogamy.Page 428If; after suffering such limitations of their post-nuptial opportunity, the males are permitted to have more than one sexual 'partner, the society ceases to display expansive energy, but so long as it continues to demand pre-nuptial chastity it remains deistic. It also enjoys the usufruct of its conquests for so long as it possesses a &eater energy than the societies which desire" to rob it of its possessions. If a man's wives are compelled to confine their sexual qualities to their husband for the whole of their lives, or for so long as he wishes, the energy of the society is greater than it would be if the wives could leave their husband of their own free will. In the former case the society is in the absolutely polygamous, condition. The energy of an absolutely polygamous society is greater than that of any other society except an absolutely monogamous one ; so if, after displaying expansive energy, the society becomes absolutely polygamous, it is likely to preserve its conquests as well as its culture. If, however, it relaxes its sexual regulations to a further extent, it collapses. By deduction I consider that this is what happened among the Persians, Macedonians, Huns, and Mongols (para..i67). At one time the Yoruba also seem to have displayed a slightexpansive energy, .and, when we first met them, they were still the most energetic people in West Africa.Unwin says:Page: 381“sexual opportunity has never been' reduced to a minimum except by depriving women and children of their legal status. It is historically true to say that in the past social energy has been purchased at the price, of individual freedom, for it has never been displayed unless the female of the species has sacrificed her rights as an individual and unless children have been. treated as mere appendages to the estate of the male parent;”But then says:Page: 431"It is difficult to express any opinion with complete confidence, but as, at the end of my task,- I look back along_the stream of time, it seems to me that it was the unequal fate of the women, not the compulsory continence, that caused the downfall of absolute monogamy. No society has yet succeeded in regulating the relations between the sexes in such a Way as to enable sexual opportunity to remain at a minimum for an extended period. The inference I draw from the historical evidence is that, if ever such a result should be desired, the sexes mu st first be placed on a footing of complete legal equality."Page: 432"In the future, it seems, a human society may continue its fortuitous career, and reflect, both in' its cultural - behavior and in its structure, the amount of energy it chances to possess ; but, if any society should desire to control its cultural destiny, it may do so by decreasing or increasing the amount of its energy. Such decrease or increase will appear in the third generation after the sexual opportunity has been extended or reduced. A lesser energy is easily- secured, for the force of life seems to flow backwards, and the members of the society will not be slow to take advantage of any relaxation in the regulations. If, on the other hand, a vigorous society wishes to display its productive energy for a long time, and even for ever, it must re=create itself, I think, first, by placing the sexes on a level of complete legal equality, and then by altering its economic and social. organization in such a way as to render it both possible and tolerable for sexual opportunity to remain at a minimum for an extended period, andeven for ever. In such a case the face of the society would be set in the Direction of the Cultural Process-; its inherited tradition would be continually' enriched ; it would achieve a. higher culture than has yet been attained; by the action of human entropy its tradition would be augmented and - refined in a manner which surpasses our present understanding.."When women were considered property they were originally purchased outright. This then evolved into a dower. Following this a dower was replaced by mutual consent. I'm not sure where arranged marriages fit into this picture. Do you believe a payment is the best method for acquiring wives? If a combination of arrangement and payment was applied to marriage maybe this would yield the best results. My thinking is the payment should be a transaction between the two families. This would ensure a larger stake in choosing mates for a successful marriage. Then on top of that the grooms family should only commit to a down payment at the time of marriage. For every year of successful marriage, the brides family can be paid more of the balance.