IT IS a truth universally acknowledged, or at least widely accepted in South Sudan, that a man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of many wives. Paul Malong, South Sudan’s former army chief of staff, has more than 100—no one knows the exact number. A news website put it at 112 in February, after one of the youngest of them ran off to marry a teacher. The couple were said to be in hiding.
Because polygamy is illegal in most rich countries, many Westerners underestimate how common it is. More than a third of women in West Africa are married to a man who has more than one wife. Plural marriages are plentiful in the Arab world, and fairly common in South-East Asia and a few parts of the Caribbean. The cultures involved are usually patrilineal: ie, the family is defined by the male bloodline. And they are patrilocal: wives join the husband’s family and leave their own behind.
Thousands of South Sudanese are killed in cattle raids every year. “When you have cows, the first thing you must do is get a gun. If you don’t have a gun, people will take your cows,” says Jok, a 30-year-old cattle herder in Wau, a South Sudanese city. He is only carrying a machete, but he says his brothers have guns.
Overall, polygamy is in retreat. However, its supporters are fighting to preserve or even extend it. Two-fifths of Kazakhstanis want to re-legalise the practice . In 2008 they were thwarted, at least temporarily, when a female MP amended a pro-polygamy bill to say that polyandry—the taking of multiple hubands—would be allowed as well; Muslim greybeards balked at that.
Polygyny is hard work for men but good for women, says Gurmeet, because it is “undesirable” for a woman to be unmarried. Asked about polyandry, Gurmeet says, “I strongly disapprove. It is against nature for a woman to have multiple partners.” He elaborates: “As a young man I kept chickens. The cock has many hens, but he does not allow the females to mate with more than one partner. So it’s against natural law.
That’s why they come here
This is a lie, am purely misleading. Don't blame it on polygamy while giving the African society homosexuality
Lies
Polygamy and Homosexuality! Which is worse?
Nah ini poligami ada statistiknya
gradidgec This is filled with fallacies... 😳Seriously? You could have done so much better.
False claim
The bottom 30 percent of men can't marry anywhere.
Condemned to abject poverty
You should also have said that in YOUR western countries where there is no polygamy, MEN AND WOMEN live the same way as polygamous people: YOU ALL LIVE EXTRA-CONJUGAL RELATIONS!! So to some extent, you also all are in polygamy!! But YOURS is worse because it's even not ETHICAL!!
Never seen such an IDIOT and DISRESPECTFUL thought!! As if Western countries were THE world's good reference!! Who sold human beings as slaves, separating child and mother, husband and wife and destroying entire families Who create civil wars just to sell their weapons YOU!!!
Just ridiculous. Correlation does not imply causation. If so, What next? Divorces in Africa and global warming?
I’d steal a few cows and raid a village over my wife for sure.
Hh bias information.
What a leap of faith — from polygamy to civil war. Wonder if the Founding Fathers knew this?
Don't mix up things.
Faux rapport et ridicule
What a lack of professionnalism ! How can you spread this type of scabrous analysis ? The connexion between muslim , polygamy, civilwar southSudan & poormen ... oversimplification ignorance badbuzz impact accountability consciousness africa asia
At least Muslims are honest. Western world men have more unlimited women in secret. .
Diabolic lie. No civil war in Indonesia, Morocco, Malaysia, Kuwait, Saudi and other Muslim majority countries in sub sahara. Sheitan!
Wow! Wow! Wow! The madness
Hmm this will never be true
If the women are accepting it and so are the men. It is no problem at all..
It is really laughable
Excuse me, polygamy has nothing to do with civil war. What is wrong with you western people? You just assume and fart with your mouth to make a point and prove of lies you are creating?
What gross simplification. How about poverty, unfair trade, for profit military intervention as the cause of war. The Economist should know better.!!!
Shortage of brides huh? I would never go for that. I’d run away and hide.
This is not about Polygamy, but injustice because corruption of some people who have power. Bring back justice and humanism than the world will become a better place for everyone with polygamy or without.
My wife is getting plowed by other members of the polycule this evening. The Kurds must pay in blood.
Brilliant woman MP in Kazakhstan - neat swipe!
This sounds terrible. What are those poor men at the bottom 30% supposed to do? Oh dear. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
So bloody depressing. What zieg heil are those 30% at the bottom supposed to do? Man, what a bummer.
The Economist, doing all it can to avoid talking about economics.
That's BS. Cattle rustling is simply organised crime for commercial gain and has nothing to do with polygamy.
In China one baby policy Left men without brides now they have Dolls. In USA & Europe we Started easy solution by Marrying Man instead of women Mormen can still marry more than one in America. Turning cultural values upside down is called advancement
Nonsense .
Economist, can you grow up. How on earth can you relate polygamy with civil war..?..
Winnie_Byanyima Who is the common denominator in mostly all the wars in the world,stop looking for scapegoats,ignorance is bad and whoever came up with this story needs some education
Very interesting ... good read
What a liar. Polygamy is a good thing. It's apolitical
Bullshit
So women can have more than one husband? Cool! Oh wait, those privileges are for men only, right?
What a load of Bollocks!
no. the problem is inequity. 10% of the men shouldn't be allowed to hoard wealth. they wouldn't be able to afford 4 wives. women should be free to get educated and not be made to be dependant on a man for her security. and men should have the means to take care of
alllibertynews Mormons don't seem very violent to me
Yes
🤣Really? So hilarious. SaturdayMorning EastSaturday
Polygamy makes civil wars more likely but not LGBT's in western countries, who else is seeing the hypocrisy of this 'STUDY'
What about polyamory in some part of Europe 😂
Am I missing something because it seems the poverty and economic inequality is the culprit not polygamy?
It's like saying men not buying houses is a main cause of homelessness. Lol correlation sure, but causation, I doubt it. The real reasons most likely are lack of resources, deep wealth disparities and inequality, politics and probably foreign interventions.
This is not even based on reliable facts or figures. Uganda has had peace for years and polygamy is widely practiced. Polygamy is widely practiced in Utah and it’s as stable as any othe US state. I don’t agree with polygamy but be honest!
Money not polygamy is the reason for violence.
Interesting approach indeed.. but I believe, statistically speaking, civil war are more about who controls natural resources in Africa.. and mostly it isn't about African corporations.. is it?
Yes, this explains the constant civil war in Utah.
This is the time that India bans polygamy. It is insult to women and against all norms of civility. How you can marry two women and still claim to be a man of conscience. All political parties must include this in their election manifesto.RahulGandhi narendramodi the_hindu
“A polygamy bill was about to pass until Female MP added that females can also practice polygamy too.” Lol
I hope the occident world understand it. The women are not commodity.
Promiscuity has more lethal consequences than polygamy on individuals and society for the simple reason that the former causes much more fatal blow to social fabric and health than the latter. FactCheck
Very misleading. Apply this reasoning to the Mormons in USA.
No! no! no! you guys should not publish this type of article because you are to big for such a nonsense article.
I smell western propaganda!
That's not true and biased report.
ScottProfessor You seat at your office seaping from a mug of coffee constructing hypothesis about Africa and making Africans subjects of the west, still we prefer polygamy to legalising gays which the west are nearly carriculising in their schools.
This is too ilogical, may be that is what cause teenage criminality in the west too.
Yea, polygamy breeds more violence than same - sex marriage. Right? The nonsense you write sometimes ...
UAAR_it
While like many other theories polygamy can be debated however it's benefits are reduction of extra marital affairs in men and respectable life for widows or divorcee. Ponder Please!!
🙄🙄🙄🙄 low intelligence
'ما جاع فقير الا بما متع به غني' علي بن ابي طالب عليه السلام قالها من 1400 سنة
The bloody state of Utah, for example, was in a constant state of civil war.
It is recognized among philosophers of law and its scholars that law lives within a place and time, therefore, its measure for what concidered justice, should not remain in absolute doubt ! It is therefore logical in China to forbid birth of more than one child, for example,
What about countries like China and India where there is a significant surplus of men?
You're so relevant and known as experts... please just to do yourself righ, remove this misleading analysis that's actually more like a depreciation to those parts of the world you have mentioned in your so called 'dumb' video analysis. 👎
So there is a shortage of brides because nobody can afford one? Or because of polygamy? In the west if you can afford it, you can have a mistress and or get a divorce and remarry. Semantics in my opinion.
Someone once said the economist is shit. I now believe them. Don’t people know the difference between correlation and causality?
From the rigorous methodological lineage that brought you 'if you arbitrarily exclude Australia, Canada, Norway, the US, and a dozen other examples, then like 80% of countries with a lot of natural resources have civil wars.' Show me the violence in 1845-1885 Utah... economeager
I can not accept polygamy because I come from a monogamous culture and I am happy to be just like I am. I wish you all peace!
Umm... there’s polygamy in Western countries... like the U.S.
Tässä olis miettimisen aihe moniavoisten ja epävakaiden maiden päättäjille.
How many more time do you plan on reposting this? I’m trying to see something
What about USA?
nyaribari_ Men are willing to have multiple wives but would never agree to a woman having multiple husbands
Is there war in Utah? Are the Mormons in the midst of civil war? Just checking your paradigm...
Did the onion write this? Sounds like extreme inequality is the cause not to mention western interference in most of these places to destabilize
When readers are more critical thinkers than media...
masterstuff2 In europe u ppl have no family system.Youths don't believe in marriage & enjoy without marriage as they don't want responsibility but need fun Youths r ruined either by drugs or alcohol No moral values/family system/respect towards parents/elders still ready 2 give fake lecture
Correlation is not causality
This is correlation not causation. Polygamy is not the cause of the civil war as you suggest in this headline. It is the wealth disparity that causes it. If there was less disparity, there would be less polygamy.
This is unintellectual, uninformed, preposterous and fallacious.
I see. The frequent shootings in the US happen as result of PolygamyFight inequality and political conspiracy of the west, the world will see peace.
Lol... This is a joke!
I used to think you do a critical thinking ....At any chance you get you use it to demonize Africa...There are more deaths and violence in America than in Africa..Even with the Monogamy practiced in the western world,They have more divorce.
This is big problem in africa and some parts of the world.... follow me in order to share what are solutions should be taken to avoid it.. As violation source of underdevelopment in all aspects...
Double check your resources for credible facts. It does exist in West as well like the Mormon fundamentalist sects in the USA.
This is completely misleading and baseless
fair amount of polygamy in Western countries as well
you know what’s stupid? Marriage. Dowries, the ensuing enslavement, guardianship, incessant pregnancies, female infanticide, kidnapping, rape, slave trade, and pretty much everything else greedy thats wrong with the world extrapolated from this dumb religious practice.
Those so called wars are caused by your countries, not polygamy.
coldtusker What rubbish!
This is an imperialistic narrative just to justify the west sales or arms and ammunition to Sudan and other part of globe. social_ustaaz umarmuchia NagariFDN PenAbdull ismaeelfresh
Headline 'Civil war being instigated by young men who cannot get brides to marry because the rich have more than one wives' this is a joke by the Economists..😂
Rubbish
Nonsense
Totally misleading! hypocritical post, Polygomy doesn't cause civil war. The western ban polygamy but do not ban having boy/girl friends... there is not a single man in West who did not sleep with more than one lady, even after they get married they have affair with other ladies
This is misleading. Civil war has nothing to do with polygamy.
So “rich men”, “poor men”, “men”, “men”, “men”. The women point of view? Who cares?
NO! G.O.M.D
You should research more about this issue. when you marry a second, third or forth wife It is not nessecary to slaughter 100 handred cow plus in these countries there are many women. There are regulations that sysimise the issue.
Another Ethnocentric account trying to demonise non western cultural practices whilst upholding the morality of the west as the world standard. Yikes!
khayadlanga What a bullshit clip...
This is such a REACH. Conflating correlation with causation is quite sloppy.
It is not polygamy that makes civil war more likely, but extreme inequality. Actually, a widening gap between the majority of poor and the minority of extremely rich causes political crisis.
It is allowed when needed, under strict conditions. Fair & capable. It is legal, documented. Children knows their parents. No single mom. Having multiple girl friends carry almost no responsibility, but more than a wife is a big responsibility. Life is all about responsibility
The effect of polygamy on men who are poor is a factor in Taliban recruitment in Afghanistan. The Taliban can promise poor landless men wives.
That’s shit and not true
Polygamy is not desirable but to claim that its majorly responsible for inter communal conflicts is a bit of a stretch. We know that, local, regional and international politics are the major causes of these conflicts. Polygamy has nothing to do with it.
Also common in mormon America.
NesrineMalik Is there anything in this Nesrine?
Totally misleading
What about war torn areas or when there are more women than men? what a nonsense article
We can now conclude that if Polygamy triggers violence in Islamist countries, then divorce ( a consequence of compulsory monogamy) and homosexuality is the cause of mass shootings, huge number of gun deaths and knifings in the west no?
Really? Look at Saudi Arabia, Dubai and UAE do you think these countries might have a civil war according to your logic? They are living the best life anyone can imagine. Still better than western countries where husbands abandon their wives without any reason
So according to these guys polygamy is worse than homosexuality. Well in my community there's alot of room for polygamy but there's not even an inch of it for a homosexual
Fascists
Well divorce is not as common in Africa as it is in the western world. Stop criticizing Africa when your men can't even handle a single woman alone because most cases your marriages end up in divorce.
Utter nonsense!!!!
I would disagree. Please re-consider in the light of a. Gender wise population strength of said countries. b. 10% men with 4 wives is an exaggerated fig in present times. c. Yes polygamy would be divs-allowed in many western countries. But then count divorcees and single parents.
GrrlScientist I suspect there may be other cofactors in that analysis, folks. Not that I'm a fan of polygamy…
This article is Ridiculous and dumb founded at best. WW1 and WW2 were epic wars, fought by non-polygamist counties, where millions of people have died. It's a disgrace such article got published.
Alright you just mentioned Islam without any reason you do not have any proof or not shared a single example of Islamic state. It's just your insecurities. Better be unbiased and do proper research before spreading false news.
And
Although Allah in Islam has allowed men to do four marriages, the context of being able to do so is far different from what is practised by people and portrayed in the media.
psi_id grace_nat TsamaraDKI rianernesto Good article on polygamous country.. 😉👍🏻
Top 10 Most violent countries according to World Economic Forum 1-El-Salvador 2-Venezuela 3-Nigeria 4-Yemen 5-Honduras 6-Guatemala 7-Philippines 8-Colombia 9-South Africa 10-Jamaica I see one Islamic country in the rank, very devastating tweet.
Well they don't talk about violence in Western countries by drunk husbands
Polygamy is to Africa & the Islamic world what homosexuality is to the Western world. It'd be naive to suggest that homosexuality doesn't have a similar effect on availability of partners. Twitter should ban these thinly veiled xenophobic attacks on other cultures
khayadlanga 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Econmist knowing polygamy is tied to Islam still promotes to islamize Europe, Economist is no longer pro western , now is a magazine trying to destroy Christianity and western values.
God did a good job by creating a ' stupied world ' !
That is your perception But we all know that there is no single country that is not experiencing killing here and there for violence
Typical western mentality and distortion! Smh!
The men who fail to get hitched will after a few years send thank you cards to those who got hitched to multiple partners, an altruistic act that saved a few good souls.
Waiting for the libs to call this racist
Exactly what jordan peterson said.
I feel like this is shitting on my dream of having sister husbands 😩
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