I know that polygamy is premitted by Islam, but I wonder how prevalent it really is. Donald Trump or Michael Bloomberge could probably each have 22 wives but that wouldn’t impact the broader society.
But the basic problem (not enough brides for all the brothers) is likely to get worse as sex selection abortions continue in China and now India and possibly even among these ethnic groups in the west.
And when you actually don’t have an equal number of women and men monogamy won’t help.
You’d need women to take multiple husbands and I just don’t see that working out in any but isolated, eccentric, cases.
I came up with the same conclusion years ago.
It’s pretty common in Saudi. But interestingly one of the major problems is daughters who don’t marry. They are stuck in their dad’s household and with nothing to do. So they get depressed and neurotic.
I think they could afford that many over their lifetimes, (assuming the correct pre-nups) but they can't legally have more than one at a time. And honestly, I'd don't know how anyone could deal with more than one at a time. ;~))
If only 10% of the men practice polygamy, and each takes four wives, then 10% of the men have monopolized 40% of the women, and 30% of the men have no hope of marriage and a normal family life. That's a simplified example and one can play with the numbers, but I do think this accounts for much of the social energy underlying jihad.
Polygamy was a natural adaptation in tribal societies dominated by constant feuding, banditry, and war. High mortality among the young men creates large numbers of widowed or never-married young women. Polygamy settles that problem. Most of the world has moved on. The Arabs are still stuck in a pre-modern rut.
Actually, the practice of women being financially supported by multiple men in exchange for sex is very widespread. It has existed in every society and every age, including the present-day United States.