Relationships as a business. Frankly, I havent even seen people aiming for that. What I see is people facing relationships in terms of benefits. So the relationships are just means to get something. Its a business. In business, the rule is that you get something valuable in exchange for something less valuable and thats how you make a profit. Thats how you make your happiness. People tally costs and margins constantly. Negotiations mimic discounts.

Then add some up percent so in the case the customer wants to negotiate, you can offer a discount while still making a margin. And since business are set in a marketplace, its a constant push pull with the prices going up and down and demand and competition and some business go bankrupt, just a few make it big and most just barely cover the costs. The sex marketplace follows this model perfectly. Natural selection drives it all.

Hormones, competition, value, settling, switching. A great design by nature or whatever deity you decide to believe in. Awesome for evolution. How about relationships? What I see out there is people treating their relationships with the business mentality. People want the benefits associated with relationships, sex, company, love, family, stuff, getting their needs met. Avoiding loneliness and filling a void. Exchanges prioritize aggregates over genuine connection.

In exchange of something. Its less about the relationship itself than its about all these aggregates. And each and every aggregate has a price point, a number. Think of the shadows of gray here - I want to go to the game with you, I know you love that and I want to share it. Whats your fav team? - OK... Im going to the game. But you have to come to see my concert. Trades like these erode true bonds over time.